


How to be a Hero

by Suus_Arido



Series: The League of Nations [1]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Action/Adventure, Bisexuality, Denial of Feelings, Fluff and Angst, Friendship/Love, Gay, M/M, Magic-Users, Mutant Powers, References to Depression, Superheroes, Supernatural Elements, Teen Romance, Villains
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-11
Updated: 2017-01-27
Packaged: 2018-05-13 07:13:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 94,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5699659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Suus_Arido/pseuds/Suus_Arido
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alfred has a simple dream: Wanting to become a hero. What he doesn't realize yet is that his dream may come true soon enough. There are secrets to be unravelled, discoveries to be made and villains to be defeated. Will it be the exciting adventure Alfred hoped for? Follow your favourite characters as they try to control mysterious powers, get good grades. And discover that with great powers, comes great responsibility. (Superhero AU/School AU/Adventure/Friendship/Supernatural/Maybe shipping.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue - Happy Birthday!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! So this is the prologue of my story. And I'm so SCARED but at the same time SO EXCITED. So yeah, I don't know how long this story will be. But I'll try my hardest and we'll see! So to make things clear: This is a superhero story. And I don't know how many ships will sail. Maybe I won't do any romance at all. Time will tell I guess. English isn't my native language. So if you spot any mistakes please tell me. This first part is really short. It's only a introduction.

Hey dudes! So this is my first entry in my audio diary! Thanks guys for the wonderful gift! I promise I will make good use for it. So anyway introduction time: The name is Alfred, and I’ll be using this present as a way of telling my story. It’s not a boring story, it’s really cool I promise. But before we start: All places and people mentioned will not be mentioned by their original names. It’s to protect our identities. Because I have a big secret. Seriously though, it’s top secret!

I wish I could make you take an oath. But then again, you are just a piece of technology. It’s already weird enough that I’m talking to you like you’re an actual person… Wait you aren’t a person, right? I digress, let me tell you a story my young apprentice. One of adventure, action, lots of angst and drama. And maybe even love. I don’t know, I feel like I would be sappy if I constantly mention romance. But we’ll just see. I won’t tell this story on my own.

Some of my friends agreed to help out. So you’ll have to entire experience in HD and as VIP! But also you also work like a diary I don’t really feel like holding anything back. You wouldn’t care less, right? So here’s secret number one about me: I hate secrets. At least when I’m not aloud to tell them to anyone. Keeping secrets is way too difficult. So this is a good way to tell. Without actually telling anybody! Less talking more action. I’ll start because I’m always number one. (Just kidding though.)

Alfred out!


	2. Chapter 1 - Alfred: Beware the Cat Lady

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here it is. I can't believe I'm actually going to do this. I'm having a serious panic attack over here. So yeah... I hope you guys enjoy! Please leave a review down below and if you notice mistakes in my English please tell me. Advice is also really appreciated! :  
> I went to the new Star Wars film tonight. And somehow it gave me the courage to do this. I hope the force will be strong in me. :D (The Dark Side is pretty cool though...) Just ignore this rambling. It's like 1:09 over here. I should go to sleep, instead I'm acting like a train wreck. Now we're at it. I was SUPER confused by the school education systems around the world. (Maybe because our own is confusing as hell.) But anyway I just decided to go with the ''Harry Potter school education'' approach. Because I could seriously just not figure it out. I would do a murder for some tea right now... Anyway until next time! Stay AWESOME.

_With great power, comes great responsibility._ ~ Spiderman

So have I already introduced myself completely? I guess not, so let’s just start right there. Because how can you read about something without having a main character? The name is Alfred Franklin Jones! (If you ever tell anybody my second name I will flush you down the toilet.)  
Around the time our story takes place I was a teenager. I just became 16 in July when my brother Matthew and I had to return to school. I attended the World Academy. Fact of the day: Stupid name, awesome school. It’s this international boarding school in Britain. Matthew and I were finally going to attend to our fourth year at the academy. And I looked forward to it way too much.

I actually thought everything went downhill the moment I set foot on campus. Sadly things went wrong during the summer. When my brother and I were enjoying our last days off…  
‘Al?’ Don’t ask me how, but when I woke up I had somehow managed to piss off my brother. People with siblings will simply shrug their shoulders. Doesn’t sound very unusual right? But for me it was the strangest situation. Because usually I create the least dangerous situations when I’m actually asleep. So there he stood, my (sadly) older brother (it’s just one year though) looking at me as if I just confessed to the murder of his favourite goldfish.  
The problem with Matthew is that there is a thin line between him being seriously scary and angry, and him being hilarious. It’s probably mom’s influence, she’s also not capable of feeling anger. In many ways Matthew looks like mom. (Not that he looks like a girl.) The big unsure dark blue eyes, the same annoying tick of biting their lower lip. And please don’t let me talk about the way he starts talking like her.

‘Alfred?’ He says again. He’s using the: I’m the older brother, so respect my authority tone. It’s not something you want to hear. ‘Hey Mattie what’s up?’ I cuddle myself in more. Hoping he will get the hint that I was actually sleeping. His eyebrows furrow even more, what the heck did I do to deserve this?  
Did I accidentally shrink his clothes again? Or maybe we we’re out of maple syrup. I get that my brother grew up in Canada, (and is by default almost the living stereotype of one) but his obsession with that stuff just got to stop. It’s not healthy. (I’m feeling like such a hypocrite right now. I’m the same as him, but with hamburgers and cola. So maybe it’s a family trade?)  
‘So for what do I deserve the honour of thy companionship?’ I feel the last bits of sleep disappear and decide it’s better to say goodbye to my bed now, before it really gets tricky. ‘Oh nothing in particular, it’s a lovely day isn’t it?’ He’s giving me such a sincere smile that for a second I actually fear for my life.  
But as I roll out of my bed and unto the floor, he continues. And it finally starts to make sense to me. ‘I bet Davie will really like the weather. I mean it isn’t your 50th birthday everyday right?’ Matthew nods to himself as he starts walking through my room like a wild animal.

‘I sure do look forward to our family reunion too. I bet Uncle Davie will love our present!’ He looks at me accusing as he finally drops the act. ‘But well we’re at it, where is Davie’s present Alfred?’ I swear to God, I did not just shit my pants. Even if I did who are you to judge?! ‘Fudge! I thought you would be taking care of that!’  
‘No. You would take care of the present. I would do the organizing. Remember?’ I really wanted to punch myself in the face. Not only because we now didn’t have a present for our Uncle. But I also hadn’t done anything for organisation, so I had practically done nothing. I was so dead.  
‘Ok so here’s the plan. I’m taking the car to buy a present for Davie. You distract mom and just be your happy annoying self. Deal?’ My alarm was telling me I had less then a few hours before mom would wake up. Thank the heavens both she and Davie where late sleepers. ‘You sure the shops will be opening at this time?’ Matthew’s anger had made place for worry. ‘Of course. It’s almost afternoon. Don’t worry.’

As I made my way towards the kitchen (while also attempting to put on a pair of socks) I heard Matthew follow me. ‘Just don’t buy anything stupid. You know what he likes. Just don’t buy him an Amazon gift card or I swear to god I will change my last name.’  
‘Into what, may I perhaps suggest Williams? Seriously Matt. I wouldn’t want to be found dead with such last name. But I got to go. Unless you want mom’s fury to rein down on us?’ He couldn’t come up with any witty comeback on that.  
And so began our epic adventure…

Ha I wish. The only exciting thing that happened was this one dude almost falling flat on his face. He tried to reach for the bottles at the top shelf. Before something could go wrong I quickly caught the dude. He didn’t seem to appreciate it.  
I had this entire dilemma about what to buy. Davie wasn’t just some weird crazy Uncle of mine. He was my father’s brother. And he took care of me like I was his own, after dad died. Someone as great as him didn’t deserve flowers, socks or a gift card. I was focused on finding him the perfect gift.  
And while I was considering the difference between "refined" and "really awesome", it happened. There was this old little lady. She was letting out her cat like it was dog. With collar and all, it looked ridiculous. As she crossed the street a group of motor cyclist turned around the corner. Maybe she was deaf, or maybe her reflexes weren’t what they used to be.

But they almost transformed her into a pancake. Most managed to dodge her, or pulled the brake as fast as they could. But I almost got a heart attack. I quickly walked towards the old lady. She looked at the ground in shock. She had dropped her purse and all items had dropped out of it. Her cat in the meantime looked as if it was trying to escape. ‘Ma’am are you all right?’ I quickly helped her search for the lost items. ‘I’m fine, just a little bit shocked. That’s all.’ When I gave her the refilled bag she gave me a close look. Her grey hair was like a curly cloud on her head. Her face looked strict, like someone who lectured people. She had these green cold eyes that seemed to inspect me. Her look was a combination between that of a worried parent, and a strict headmaster. It made me nervous as hell. ‘Do you need any more help coming home ma’am?’ I wasn’t just being polite for the sake of being polite. I couldn’t help but to actually worry about this woman. How many times did this happen in a week? Didn’t she have family who took care of her?

I had all these questions. All these things I wanted to know, but where too rude to ask. I gave her my broadest smile, and she suddenly gave me one in return. ‘Blue eyes, blond hair and a cheeky grin. You’re just like your father, Andrew Jones.’ My mind progressed that in two steps. Number one being: Oh really? What a nice thing to say.  
Step two woke me up: Wait… what? ‘How do you know my father ma’am?’ My thought process started imitating that of a train wreck. ‘I lived in the same neighbourhood as him. You are Alfred Jones. Am I correct?’ I never nodded as frantically as I did in that very moment. It wasn’t really a secret that I was obsessed with my father’s past.

When I was younger I practically begged my Uncle to tell stories about him. He always told me awesome stories. My dad was a hero. He travelled around the world. He was having awesome adventures with his friends. He was a superhero, sometimes a spy and other times a soldier. He fought in wars, destroyed the evil dead beam of the bad guy.  
And in the end he met my mother and settled down. In my eyes it was the most simple and perfect story to ever exist. Of course I realised it was really exaggerated, (and fake) when I got older. But some of it was of course still true. I can barely remember my father. I liked to think that unravelling his past would bring me closer to him.

‘You lived in his neighbourhood?’ I could almost not believe my own luck. What where the chances of me actually meeting someone of his past here? I barely came into this part of town, and when I did I usually didn’t stay long. ‘Yes. I’ve been his babysitter him for the longest of times. I got a birth card of both you and your brother. I never had to time to go on a visit though.’  
She searched through a purse. She seemed to be looking for something. ‘So how’s your family doing nowadays Jones?’ She found a pen and paper and wrote something down. ‘They’re doing well, I guess. Matthew and mom moved from Canada a few years ago. Mom now works at the local hospital and Davie still owns his bar.’  
‘I see. I’ve never seen you around here though Alfred. All schools are located in this part of the city. Do you go somewhere else perhaps?’ Was it weird for me to share all this information with this old lady I just met?

Probably. But I felt this odd connection with the woman. Also, the way she talked about my family hinted she had once been very close with us. If I didn’t know better she could be grandma. ‘Matthew and I both go to international boarding school. So the biggest part of the year we spent abroad in Britain. We’ve returned home for the summer vacation.’  
There is this problem I have. I love socializing and talking. And when I meet a nice old lady, who also loves talking you can already guess time flows differently for us. We talked about the weather, here family. More about mine, we fell back into a story about her grandchildren. And before I knew it, it was suddenly 2 in the afternoon. ‘Oh fudge, I forgot all about the time!’ I turned around to the woman. ‘I’m so sorry miss. But I really need to go. Today is my Uncle’s birthday. And I’m already really late. It was really nice talking to you though. If you want I can give my mother a message from you?’

She nodded in understanding, and gave me the piece of paper she’d been holding all this time. ‘This is my information. Give it to your mother. I would like to stay in touch with her. Please congratulate your Uncle for me. He too was a nice young man. And you are too Alfred Jones. You’re going to be just fine.’  
As she handed me the paper, she also gave me something that looked like a deck of cards. ‘See it as a present. Your father used to love stealing those cards from me.’ She looked ready to leave. I however kept her up by constantly thanking her. ‘It’s alright boy. Just go, you wouldn’t want to be late. Or would you?’

With those words she turned around. Her cat made annoying grumbling sounds. I’d never such an angry looking cat before. But I couldn’t help but to smile. That old lady was going to be just fine too. I quickly took out my phone. And soon discovered my brother was ready to kill me. But there was still hope, as his last message read the following: We’re out of maple syrup. Maybe you can bring some with you from the shop. It may help me forget that you’re an enormous asshole.

Quote of today: 'Where there is maple syrup, there is hope.' - Alfred Jones

In the end, everything of course turned out fine. I managed to buy something for Davie. The party was great and mom was only a little bit suspicious. Just kidding though, she got angry all right. But not in the scary way like Matthew had today. Instead she acted really hilarious and weird.  
The rest of the week nothing happened. There was no alien invasion. And there was no secret complot to kill the president. It was really boring. And it was like that for weeks. I was almost looking forward to going back to school. But maybe I secretly did. When I was younger I really hated school.  
Moving around a lot didn’t help me a lot either. I just couldn’t along with the others kids my age. But when dad died and mom suddenly sent us to boarding school (out of freaking nowhere I may add) so much changed.

A few days before we would return to school, something however happened. It all started when I was feeling really sick. The first thing that happened was the loss of all desire to sleep. I tried everything, from warm milk to relaxing music. I even did research on the internet (I couldn’t sleep anyway) but nope. No sleep.  
Things got serious when I lost my appetite. Even hamburgers weren’t an option. Until that time my brother and mother had just thought I had caught a cold. But the moment I rejected my favourite hamburger they started getting really worried. For dammed good reasons too. I love food. And food loves me.

At this point I hadn’t slept in a few days, and food was also not an option. Mom wanted me to go to the doctor but I reassured her I was going to be fine. (She works at a hospital and if I hadn’t insisted that I was feeling better, then she would have dragged me to the hospital herself.) And I wasn’t lying. I was feeling better.  
I started eating again, and I slept better. However, those weird symptoms got replaced by something else. That something being the feeling of getting crushed by gravity. Also I was feeling like I was slowly suffocating, and I should also mention the weird dreams. Shortly explained, I felt like absolute crap.  
And then one night, after I experienced the worst nightmare in my life it happened. I felt all of the sickness just disappear. I felt normal again. Well… what you call normal. As you see, that next morning wasn’t like my usual mornings…

‘Hey Alfred are you up yet? Mom sends me to…’ I woke up by Matthew’s voice. Something that usually doesn’t happen, his voice is just too soft. But as I opened my eyes half, wanting to send him away he already spoke again. ‘Alfred, are you even here?’ I saw him walk through my room. His hair (that is longer than mine, it looks wavy. I used to call him princess for it) was hiding his face. I tried not to grin. He was probably not wearing his glasses, and thus not being capable of finding me. I was obviously just lying in bed… Wait… It was then that it occurred to me that I was seeing the world from a different perspective. Everything seemed farther away. And somehow I couldn’t find my sheets or my pillow.

I let out a surprised (and quite annoyed) sight. It was then that it clicked for both of us. He looked up at the ceiling. The ceiling I was stuck to. And as I tried not to have a panic attack, I manage to wave at him. ‘Good morning Matt. Could you do me the favour of getting me the hell of this ceiling?!’ The more I spoke the more the panic showed through my words.  
Matthew’s face went from confused, to shocked, to horrified in a few seconds. He dropped the book he was holding. It was then I noticed his left arm was missing. As we stared at each other, both of us started screaming. The results? Gravity decided to drop me, and suddenly Matthew disappeared in thin air completely. And what stood there panicking instead was a set of floating clothes. We both sounded like little girls.

And that’s when basically everything went to hell.


	3. Chapter 2 - Arthur: The Boy Who Lived... At School

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hurray it's done! I'm so happy with this! Introducing in this chapter everyone's favourite gentleman. :) I totally forgot to mention that this will be will be using the human names of our favourite adorkable countries. The title of this chapter is indeed a Harry Potter pun. Although I'm not very good at making jokes... I hope you enjoy, and if you notice any mistakes please tell me! I will correct them immediately.
> 
> So yeah also introducing in this chapter: Arthur's brothers! For who's a bit confused who's who:  
> Allistor = Scotland  
> Seamus = Northern Ireland  
> Dylan = Wales  
> Peter = Sealand  
> Róisín = Ireland (His Aunt. I have no clue who Michael is btw.)
> 
> You have no idea how much fun I had with this. I had absolutely no difficulties choosing Arthur's roommate for the first year. Fun fact: Room 116 is a reference to the hundred year war. It lasted 116 year, omfg that's a long time. I don't know how quickly I'll update in the future. It really depends! I'm really sorry if I confuse people with my use of American English and Queen's English. I prefer the English way, but for characters like Alfred I'll go out of my way to write American English. Because seriously I've never actually heard Alfred say ''holiday''.
> 
> A note about the whole shipping character thing: I still have no idea what I'm going to do. But I feel like dropping in hints of UsUk ;) I really appreciate reviews. So don't be afraid to leave one. I love critique it's like an awesome gift wrapped into a cute package of words. :D
> 
> Zie je later! En blijf geweldig.  
> (Translation: See you later. And stay awesome.)

_Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience._ ~ Victoria Kirkland

Good day, it’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Arthur Kirkland. I’m a pupil at the World Academy. I will assume that Alfred hasn’t spoken over me yet. He asked me to join in on telling the story. I didn’t want to help at first. But after I realised that he would probably tell it incorrectly, I decided to help out. Not for him though. This is simply to protect the honour of my friends and myself. So basically I’m doing it for my own sake.

It all happened very quickly, during an unusual warm summer a few years ago. One moment I was kicking a football against the wall. I stared at the setting sun, which gave my home (the city of London) a final goodbye before plunging into darkness. And the next moment I woke up early in the morning. Was told to hurry up and eat my breakfast.  
And suddenly I sat in the car. My packed trunk was put into the car. And my youngest brother Peter was crying. ‘I want to go with you!’ He insisted. My mother’s brother and his wife were standing beside Peter. Not sure what to do. My mother, Victoria Kirkland gave Peter a sympathetic look. ‘We’ll return during the holidays dear. In the meantime Róisín and Michael will take care of you.’

Peter started crying even louder. ‘Why can Arthur go but I can’t? It’s not fair!’ Honestly, if I was allowed to say something. I would have given the kid the angriest rant of a life time. I didn’t really get Peter. He and I always waved our brother goodbye as they went to school. But he had never complained about not being allowed to go.  
But since it was announced that I too would leave for my first year at my new school, Peter suddenly had a change of heart. Out of the blue he decided that he had some sort of "right" to come with us. He’d been at it the entire holiday. The worst part of it all was the fact that mother didn’t get angry. Not even once. It mystified me how such a short tempered woman could be so patient and loving to such a brat.

‘Mom are you done petting the pest? If we don’t go now we’re gonna be late!’ It was my brother Dylan who put his head outside the car to complain. Mother gave him an annoyed side glance before saying her goodbyes to her brother and her sister-in-law. As she finally started the car I couldn’t help but to be relieved. I was getting really nervous.  
My brothers all attend the Academy. And they had told me the weirdest stories about it. I didn’t know which ones were real and which ones weren’t. But there was probably truth in some of them. ‘Arthur dear, are you all right? You look a little down under the weather.’ Mom said at some point. I stared at my reflection. And I got a little startled when I realised she was right.  
The colour of my skin fitted my eyes perfectly. I looked like a green monster, my eyebrows didn’t really help that image. Apparently Seamus noticed too. As he and my oldest brother Allistor started laughing. ‘Artie dear, you look a little green around the edges.’ Seamus snickered. Dylan put on his finest accent as he too started mocking me. ‘Good lord, I’ve just discovered a new species!’

I started hissing, telling them to shut up. Seamus had decided that filming the scene would be appropriate. Which for your information, it wasn’t. ‘I present to you, the Arthurtractius Iggyinsignificus. A rare species with a lot of issues and a very gayish-’ I tried to punch him in the face. ‘Cough- I mean a very gentleman-like behaviour pattern.’  
‘Boys please stop that. You know Arthur is very sensitive. You should not be so mean to him. Instead give him the good example.’ I don’t know what mom was trying to do. But she was definitely not helping my case. ‘Allistor started petting me on the head. ‘Oooh are you a little bit sensitive Arthur? Our poor little delicate flower!’

I don’t have the most patients in the world either. So when I punched him in the face and called him a wanker, nobody should have been surprised. Instead mother almost broke the brake of the car. ‘Arthur Kirkland! What in the Queen’s name are you doing?!’ It became silent in the matter of seconds. Both Seamus and Dylan looked away quickly.  
I saw from the corner of my eyes that Seamus stopped recording. And suddenly Dylan was fascinated by the view outside. Allistor looked like he was ready to strangle me. If mother hadn’t been there, I’d been a goner. I tried to find the words to express my anger. To explain how they were always teaming up against me. I tried to say that this was what usually happened when she wasn’t home.

Instead I suddenly had the most interesting vocabulary. ‘I, I, uuuh... You see, I…’ It was the most intelligent thing that I managed to say under my mother’s strict eyes. The angry eyes that shared the same colour as mine. After that she started up the car again. And as she drove she ranted about how all of us were badly raised.  
She sure knew how to hit us were it hurt. ‘Allistor you are the most irresponsible young man I’ve ever met. You’re just like your father.’ Our father the alcoholic, who left us after getting addicted to gambling. ‘Stop looking down Seamus. At least Allistor has some spine. You’re even worse. You’re just like Alice. Always following others around like a dog!’ Alice Kirkland, our butt-licking Aunt who’d married a rich man, only to divorce him and take all his money.

She gave Dylan her evil eyes next. ‘Don’t get me started on you Dylan! Even Peter is more grown up than you.’ He looked away and frowned. I bet that comment hurt a lot. ‘And you Arthur.’ I prepared myself for the hurtful words. But instead she shook her head. She didn’t say anything. And I still think it’s the most effective way to hurt me. She was so disappointed in the person I was becoming, that she could barely find the words the express herself.

It felt like she was putting nails in my coffin. After her rant it became painfully silent. But there was also anger hanging in the air. Because there was no justice in the Kirkland household. Our mother was trying to raise five brats while also trying to work as much as possible. And I’d always love and respect her for that. But then again, we didn’t inherit our cruel behaviour from a stranger…

At some point we took a break. We all went to a little café for some tea, (coffee in Allistor’s case) and as we sat there in awkward silence mother suddenly decided that she should apologize. It became even more awkward after that in the car. Because it has been going like this for years now. We fought, mom would get angry and in the end we would all try to pretend it never happened. It made me wonder how they all managed to get along at school. Did my brothers just ignore each other? Or did they annoy the crap out of each other? I felt my breathe hitch. What if they all made it their mission to make my life a living hell? As we came closer and closer to our destination I started panicking. I didn’t want this. I wanted to go home, back to London. I’m not saying I’m not capable of having social interaction.

I’m simply saying that I basically got forced into this. Maybe that’s why I was resisting. I make my own choices. And when I get forced into something, I usually don’t react very positive. As mom took the next turn, I noticed Seamus getting excited. This could only mean one thing: we we’re almost there. At this point I tried to tell myself that staying calm was my best option. I would need to act normal. I was really done getting bullied by my classmates. I was going to make sure the people at this school would like me. They came from all over the world, they would probably be nice right? As I saw the gate appear, I felt the last bits of bravery disappear from my system.

The enormous gate was wide open. As mom drove past the parking lot I saw all types of people. There were young children, teenagers and teachers. There were all nationalities and all ethnic groups. Some in uniforms, others carrying heavy suitcases. Some ran towards each other, greeting their old friends. New students looked around nervous holding up a map of the campus.  
There weren’t even that many people. I’d read on the site that the World Academy had less students than my old school. For such a big school it had surprisingly few students. But as we drove past the public parking lot, I couldn’t help but to think there were a lot of people. Mother even stated at some point that it seemed "more crowded" than in past years.

I saw another bus stop at the gates. The teenagers coming out of it either talked excitingly with each other, or looked tired. Probably because they experienced jet lags. It was interesting to see how people dressed too. It had been a surprisingly warm summer. And I could pick out the foreigners without any trouble. They were dressed like the next ice age had arrived.  
Well most people were dressed like me (shirt, short pants and sunburns). People who however came from sunny countries wore long clothes, and some even dared to wear scarfs or winter coats. One girl who wore two pigtails with red ribbons was wearing a scarf. She looked like she was freezing.

As we made our way towards the private parking places I felt my face heat up. My mother was English teacher at the school. If I was lucky I wouldn’t get her as teacher. But it wouldn’t change the fact that she was my mother. If my classmates found out, and decided they didn’t like it. It could bring me into a lot of trouble.  
As she parked the car something very interesting happened. My brothers stepped out with the speed of light. Quickly they took out their luggage, and as mom talked about them helping me finding my way around. They nodded, kissed her cheek and they were gone. Not a trace left. Where they went? I had no idea whatsoever.  
Mother didn’t seem to find it odd. But I had my suspicions as to why they were suddenly in such a hurry. Maybe they didn’t feel like babysitting me. Maybe they didn’t want to be spotted with mom and me. Maybe they were just done with hanging around with family for today. I wouldn’t blame them. If I had friends to run to, I too would leave as soon as possible. ‘Would you perhaps want me to be your guide for the day Arthur?’

Mom gave me a sincere worried look. Mom’s personality is like the sea. One moment she is nice and calm. But the next she is dangerous, and of course always unpredictable. I quickly shook my head. ‘No. No. I’m going to be fine mom. You still have a lot to do. I’m going to be fine ok? I’m just going to head to my new room and meet my roommate.’  
She started stroking my hair as she let out a sight. ‘Fine, just remember to come to me if you need anything. I may be a teacher, but I’m also your mother.’ I nodded and kissed her cheek. ‘Thanks, I’ll go now. I’ll see you later ok?’ I found it surprisingly easy to deal with my mother when we were alone. Maybe it’s because we understand each other on a certain level.  
You probably want a description how the campus looks right? Well I’ll try to describe it for you. You have the gates, which form the main entrance to the school’s territory. One the left side you have parking lots. On the right side you can see the beginning of the sport fields. Left from the sport fields is the swimming pool area.

If you follow the main road however you will walk right into the main building. It’s big, old and looks like an old mansion. In this building all subjects are given. The inside is rather nice as well. Behind the main building are three buildings. The one left is the girls building, and the one on the right is the boys building. Between those two stands a smaller building, which forms the living accommodation for staff members.

As the World Academy used to be an all-boys school, the girl building was built later. It’s generally considered to be better designed. On the left side there are the gardens, and there is of course a place for students to store their vehicles. That’s the most basic description I can offer you without going on long rants about how the designs were created, by whom and when. (No I didn’t swallow a book. I simply checked out their site.)

I had already looked over the map, and I didn’t have any trouble navigating my way through the crowd. The boy building was definitely more crowded than the girl building. But that was only natural. Mom used to constantly complain during dinner about this. To quote her precisely: ‘No matter what we do. Somehow we always get more boys than girls. It’s probably because the historical background of the school.’ My brothers and I were of course no expert on the matter, so we usually just shrugged our shoulders and changed the topic. Older students were leaving the building. They probably just dropped their bags and decided to go outside to enjoy the weather. But the newer students like me were looking around curiously, trying not to get lost. Suddenly I felt nervous again.

I had received the key to room number 116. It was the room I was going to be living in for the next year. I would share it with a roommate. Not that I minded roommates. I had endured sharing a room with Dylan and Peter for years. For everyone who has been forced to share a room with three people… I share your pain.  
The idea that I was going to share a room with only one person excited me. Someone who probably had manners, was nice, and was going to become a great friend in the future. I looked forward to it. But I was also afraid he might be an arse. Or even worse, really nice. Not that I dislike nice people. It’s just that if I can’t get along with him (while he’s the nicest person on earth) it will definitely say something about how I’ve been raised.

Or in other words, if my roommate isn’t an asshole, I’ll probably be one. As I manage to survive the stairs I have the climb, while also carrying a massive trunk. I notice I’m getting closer to my new room. And suddenly I don’t care anymore. All fear, all worries all nervous thoughts disappear. I just need to be myself.  
That’s all, it’s not that difficult. If I’m just myself everything is going to be alright. I open the door without any hesitation. The first thing I notice is the fact that someone has been here before. I can’t help but to get a bit excited now. I walk straight ahead towards the bedroom. As I enter the room however I immediately notice that nobody is there.

He probably packed out his stuff and left again. But now that we’re at it, you’ll probably want to know how our rooms look, don’t you? (God Alfred was right. When talking to this thing you either feel like you have a bad case of personality disorder. Or you feel like you have an actual public listening to you. Well I’ll just roll with it.) Well they’re designed to fulfil basic needs. When you enter the room you stand in a small hall. On the left is a door which reaches towards the bathroom.  
And straight ahead is the door towards the bedroom. The bedroom is arranged to be symmetrical. Both sides presented a bed, closet, desk and nightstand with a lamp standing on it. The walls are dark blue, and as I walked into the bedroom the floor creaked from age.

The things that ruined the symmetry were the properties of my roommate. I felt the strong desire to poke around his stuff. Just out of curiosity. He wouldn’t mind… right? As I free myself from my trunk I slowly make my way towards his side of the room.  
The first things to catch my eyes were the books on the wall shelves. I didn’t recognize any of the books, and none of them were in English. Some looked like odd comics. On his desk he’d put a laptop and some pictures. From the pictures I could point out he was probably either the blond boy, or the boy with short brown hair.

I hesitated as I looked at his closet. Should I take a look? I walked to my side of the room quickly. No, that would be just rude. I was known to pass boundaries at home. But I knew when to take a step back. As I explored my side of the room, I slowly started packing out my things. I started customizing the place a bit to make it feel more like home.  
As I put my clothes into the closet I notice the neatly folded uniforms. I was used to wearing a uniform on my old school. I reminded myself to try it on later. If it didn’t fit I should tell someone from the staff immediately. I put out my books too. I immediately noticed that my shelf wasn’t going to be able to fit all of them. I glanced at the side of my roommate. He hardly filled any space on his shelves.

Would he mind if I put some of my books on his shelf? I should ask him once he got here. Once I was done I felt quite satisfied. It was then that I notice a letter lying on my pillow. I was surprised I hadn’t noticed it yet. I opened it quickly, it was probably from the school. But as I was reading it someone opened the front door.  
I didn’t notice it as I was completely lost in the information presented to me on paper. I almost had a heart attack when someone spoke to me. ‘Well, hello.’ The accent sounded oddly familiar. I looked up quickly. Before me stood a boy, he had wavy blond hair and dark blue eyes. He had this arrogant look to him. Like he felt better than anyone else. He smiled and I remembered that introducing myself was the proper thing to do. I reached for his hand.

‘It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Arthur Kirkland. I’m from London.’ He smiled as he shook my hand. He looked amused by something. And I had this dark feeling that I could guess what made him smile. It was probably my eyebrows. ‘It’s a pleasure to meet you Arthur.’ I finally recognized the accent as French. ‘My name is Francis Bonnefoy, I’m from Lyon. That’s in France.’ They say it takes one to know one. And for some reason I was getting a very big asshole vibe from my roommate. Sadly my intuition is usually right.


	4. Chapter 3 - Matthew: A Fine Lop On

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! So here's the new chapter! This was a really tricky one, but I'm so glad it turned out like this. If you liked this chapter (but even if you didn't) if would love to hear your opinion on it! :D I really want to improve my English writing. For who's curious: A fine lop on is apparently a Canadian saying that means: High winds are causing rough waters. If you know any other funny sayings (Canadian or not) then please tell me. :) I hope you liked Matthew and Alfred in this chapter. ;) Both brothers can be quite a handful to deal with. But we all love them anyway.
> 
> Freddie & Fazbear Restaurant are of course a references to Five Nights at Freddy. (Which I don't own.)  
> I also don't own Narnia. Although I do sometimes do wonder if Germany found it. (Because he's deep in the closet HA YOU GET IT?)  
> I don't own anything of DC or Marvel. :( (I wish I did, then I could also make cameo's in the films. Just like Stan Lee.)
> 
> Well I'll see all of you next year! A Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all have a wonderful evening!  
> *En vergeet niet om geweldig te zijn! *And don't forget to stay awesome!

_You think you can see through me,_  
 _But you have it arse about,_ ~ The Invisible Half, Part I

Hello, my name is Matthew. I'm Alfred's brother. He said I had to introduce myself before telling this story any further. I don't really get why, since I know he has talked about me. (You probably already have some sort of image of me.) But I'll do it anyway. Otherwise he'll be complaining about it for weeks. Well it's very nice to meet you. I hope we'll get along. (I'm very sorry for bothering you by the way…) So let's just get this started, because otherwise Alfred will complain that I don't hurry up enough in my parts of the story. He has such a short attention span…

In the last week of our summer holiday Alfred got really sick. I didn't think too much of it. He almost never gets sick, so when he does it is usually a big drama. I myself also felt down under the weather, but in different way. As one moment I would be super happy but ten seconds later I was crying in my room, wondering what the point of living was. Why I was experience such heavy mood swings? I had no idea. I didn't think too much of it either. What I did know was what happened the morning Alfred felt better. It happened on a Monday morning. We only had a week to go before school would start, and mom thought to be funny to wake me up early.

So I went to Alfred's room (because it wouldn't be fair he was allowed to sleep in) and wanted to wake him up. What happened? Something messed up. Alfred was stuck on the ceiling and I turned invisible. How it happened? We didn't know. Why it was happening? Alfred tried to figure it out. Well at the first day we actually just screamed and tried not to cry. And on the second we'd both locked ourselves away in our bedrooms.

But on the third day, we finally got our act together again. Now maybe you are raising your eyebrows. Maybe you not satisfied by the fact that it took us three days to calm down. Well I sure do wonder if you could do it in fewer days. You probably can't. Although I should give Alfred credits for being the first to do something. As that morning, when the sun had hardly come up yet, and I was trying not to panic, Alfred decided to give me a little visit.  
I heard a loud knock on my door. I had finally managed to fall asleep. But the moment I heard that loud bang on my door I was fully awake again. Slowly I dragged my hand palm over my face, trying not to look stressed or angry. It was probably mom, I'd lied that I too had gotten sick. And I had discouraged her to visit me. I had promised her that I just needed some rest. And I didn't exactly lie. I did need some alone time.

The molestation of my door continued. But before I opened the door I quickly checked my reflection. My stress level sky rocketed again. The entire left half of my body was just missing. The last few days I'd been very, very upset. I'd been terrified and panicking. Call me a coward if you want to. But could you blame me for freaking out? It isn't nice to suddenly see parts of your body disappear. And when your body disappears completely it's the worst. You feel like you're blind, only you can see everything. Except what you want to see.

I tried not to curse as I opened the door a tiny little bit. Making sure mom couldn't force herself inside. 'Hey mom, I just wanted to say-' the door was forced open and I had to quickly back off for the incoming force. 'Good morning my dear maple flower!' For as second I was confused. Then I realised it was Alfred who had suddenly decided to walk in. I should have known. For some reason I was in shock. Maybe it was because Alfred thought that Maple was a type of flower. Maybe it was because he was practically screaming the entire country together. Or maybe it was because he was acting very… normal?

Yes that would have shocked me too, believe me. Alfred acting like a normal human being? It would probably be a sign that the end was near. But I didn't mean normal-normal. I meant Alfred-normal. (I bet you look super sad right now.) He was sitting in my favourite chair while babbling away. I quickly closed the door and locked it. Alfred just kept talking about this new game that was coming out soon. And I tried to follow him, but he was talking so quickly. I could hardly manage to follow him. I also couldn't understand how he could act so casual. Like, didn't he notice half of my face not being there?

'I couldn't believe it dude! It's going to have multi-player, there will be tons of new quests-'  
'Uuh Alfred?'  
'And old characters will return too! It's like it the same dimension, but in a different part-'  
'Alfred…'  
'We should definitely buy it. Although I heard it's pretty expensive so maybe we could...'  
'ALFRED!'

He looked up confused. His oblivious smile faded. 'What's up Matt? You don't wanna buy it?' I was absolutely astonished by my brother in that very moment. 'Alfred, I don't even get what you are talking about…' He let out a deep sight. 'I just told you! Man, you should really pay more attention to what I'm saying dude.' I tried not to slap myself in the face. Was I just going mad? Maybe it had all been a bad dream? Maybe nothing of this had really happened? As Alfred continued his speech I just slowly sat myself down. I was so lost in thoughts that I almost didn't catch what he said, wasn't it that he used the infamous word.

'So I've also checked out if we can do something about the whole invisible thing you have going on and I figured that if you concentrate hard like me. Then maybe you'll return to normal?' I looked up quickly shocked by what he said. 'Excuse me, I didn't get that last part?' He took of his glasses and cleaned them up. 'What part, the one about the invisibility?' I let out a relieved sight, I couldn't hold back a laugh. Alfred's expression went from excited to concerned. 'Are you alright Mattie? You don't like so good.' I started laughing even harder. 'Dammit Al! I actually thought I was going nuts because you didn't mention the incident. I was almost starting to believe I was just losing my mind.'

He too started laughing. 'How could I forget that? I've been practising to keep my feet on the ground ever since.' He stood up and started floating. This time he stopped between the ceiling and the floor. Hovering like some sort of superhero. 'See? The moment I lose focus this happens.' He laughs as he floats even higher. 'I've got everything under control now, awesome right!?' It was then that he smashed on the ground again. I tried not to laugh. 'Looks like you've got everything under control Al.' I walked over to him and helped him up. 'Shut up.' When his glasses stood straight again, and I had checked if nothing was broken he continued talking. 'I'm sorry I disappeared into my room dude. I guess I was a bit freaked out about it.'

It always surprised me how my little brother could go from goofy to serious in a matter of seconds. I patted him carefully on the back. 'I'm sorry too. I mean this doesn't happen every day. So our reaction was only natural. I don't really know what these symptoms are. Or where they came from. But I do know that I'm going to make sure you are okay.' Alfred smiled, his concern didn't leave his eyes yet. 'Why are you calling it symptoms like it some sort of disease?' I couldn't help but to roll my eyes. 'Then what do you suggest we call them? Inhuman capabilities or superpowers perhaps?' That last one made his eyes twinkle dangerously. 'I like the sound of that last one.'

For a minute or so I just looked at him with frustration. 'Alfred no.' He started grinning, nodding slowly. 'Alfred yes.' After that we got in an argument. That lasted maybe an hour or so. After that we discussed our isolated days. Apparently Alfred had gotten over his levitation power the next morning. Yes you heard me, the next morning.

He'd been browsing the web. As he was searching for answers, he also tried not to get stuck on the ceiling again. He looked up tips on how to handle flying powers and he watched a new episode of Sherlock Holmes without me. He didn't get why I got so mad at him after that. We also discussed how he managed to stay on the ground. Apparently the trick was to concentrate really hard. Feel the ground under your feet, gravity pulling you down. The roots of the Earth bla bla bla. Something like that.

The only moments in which he seemed to float of again were the moments in which he either lost focus, or felt emotionally unstable. How he'd figured that out I didn't really want to know. He seemed to be pretty cool about it all. He didn't seem really scared or worried. He just looked excited. Maybe because he had dreamed about this moment his entire life. Maybe that's why he was accepting of his new faith so easily. Also he had the power of flying, even I couldn't lie that that wasn't pretty fucking awesome. The only thing he really seemed to have a problem with was the whole origin of our powers.

Had an alien virus given us strange powers? Well we hadn't eaten anything weird, green and gooey for a few months. Maybe something radioactive had exploded nearby? It hadn't been covered in the news, so I doubted it. Alfred however kept mumbling about the American government hiding everything.

We went from theory to theory. Our brains got a break from all the internet theories and conspiracy when Uncle Davie suddenly knocked on the door. 'Hey kiddo, your mom's wondering if you wanna have any breakfast or not.' Alfred practically shoved me under the blankets without any hesitation. 'Al what are you doing?!' I hissed, trying not to talk too loud. (Alfred just walked by. He started laughing really hard. I don't really get why.)

He just kept suffocating me with the pillows. 'Al get of me!' I don't like shouting to people. But sometimes that's the only way of getting them to listen. (Alfred just returned with Arthur. They started laughing even harder. Seriously what the hell is wrong with them? I just asked them if something was wrong, and they're just whispering. I can barely make out what they're saying. Honestly, people should really raise their voice more. I can sometimes barely understand these people…)

After I finally managed to get him of, I had to explain that I'd locked the door. If Alfred hadn't done so stupid then maybe Davie had settled with a no thank you, we're fine we'll eat later, as answer. But he was now trying to open the door. 'Is everything alright in there? Why did you lock your room boy?' He kept knocking on the door. I stood up quickly, wanting to open the door but Alfred stopped me. 'Alfred stop that!' He gripped my shoulders and turned me towards the mirror. 'Dude your face. He can't see you like that.' I had forgotten all about that. Alfred quickly took of my glasses. 'Al what are you doing?' He started tugging on my shirt next.

This was starting to get really weird, really fast. 'Take of your shirt and become completely invisible!' I tried to push him away. 'No! Why would I do that?' He clapped his hands loudly and it startled me so much that I turned completely invisible. 'Great. Now take of your shirt. And hide yourself behind the bed. He'll only see your upper half.' He shook his head in confusion. 'Wait… because you are invisible he will actually not see your upper half. But that's actually what I meant and…'

'Or I could just hide in my closet and avoid all this trouble…' I said hopefully. He snickered a bit about my hiding in the closet joke. And then quickly shook his head. 'Nope my plan is more awesome, now go!' He walked towards the door and unlocked it. Davie barged into the room in the same manner Alfred had done a few hours back. He looked around suspicious. 'What is happening here? You boys are way too noisy.' He looked at Alfred with suspicious eyes. 'You weren't trying out one of you new pranks on him?' Alfred laughed nervously. 'No of course not! I was just chilling with my big bro. You know kid stuff…'

Davie didn't look impressed, and neither was I to be honest. It's really weird to be part of the room, but also not be part of it. And trust me, I know all about how it feels to be invisible and forgotten. Maybe that's why I hated this new ability of mine. Because it was really worthless. It made me do something that I could already do. But because the conversation between Alfred and Uncle Davie was so painful to follow I decided to focus on something else. I stared with intensity at my glasses, which Alfred had dropped on my desk. Maybe I could make things float with my mind? I couldn't see very much, and it was starting to give me a headache.

I felt this weird sensation go over my skin. It felt ticklish, and made my hairs stand up straight. I kept on staring at my glasses. It was then I realised someone was walking towards me. I shouldn't have concentrated. When Alfred concentrated he stopped floating. So if I concentrated, did that make me turn visible again? 'But where's Mattie-boy?' My heart just stopped beating, I stopped breathing altogether. Uncle Davie was standing at the exact place where I sat. I saw Alfred having a serious panic attack. I had already tested out if I was completely invisible. I had tried to slap myself in the face. And it had hurt a lot. I may have been invisible for the eye, but I was very good in walking into things. So how was this happening?

Davie set a few more things. Alfred just kinda stood there shaking his head, sometimes lifting his shoulders. His eyes never left the place where I'd sat. Was he looking for blood? Uncle Davie looked around a bit more. I still didn't dare to breathe but I really needed some oxygen. When he finally left I immediately started taking in air. And my concentration broke immediately. Apparently I was back in one piece because Alfred looked super relieved. 'Oh my God Matt! I thought he had stepped on you and killed you or something! Don't joke around like that, you almost gave me a heart attack. I almost just flew out of the fucking window or something. What the hell where you-'

I shut him up before he could say anything more. After we'd both calmed down, we started discussing my power. Apparently concentrating was a bad thing in my case. Because not only did it turn me invisible, but it could also cause me to disappear almost completely. We also figured out my power worked like that of a chameleon. When I was in distress, panic or feared for my life my power would probably instinctively turn me invisible to protect me. Alfred kept calling me the invisible chameleon for weeks after that. It was a really stupid and annoying nickname if you asked me.

At some point Alfred snatch us some food as we roamed the internet for answers. 'Hey, here it says that superpowers are like mutations. Like in the X-Men movie, with Wolverine and stuff? Well mutations find place in our DNA. So that means our powers are genetic.' I looked up from my laptop. 'So what are trying to say?' Alfred had managed to steal one of my pencils and he was now murdering it by bending it slowly. 'Well I don't have to explain you about the bird and bees. You aren't that innocent my dear brother.' I just shrugged my shoulders, thinking he was just goofing around again when suddenly it hit me.

'Wait, so you think either mom or dad has superpowers?' The pencil was now making protesting sounds. 'Well it could be one of them. It could also be both.' I shook my head and stood up. 'That's stupid Al. They would've told us something so important. That just doesn't make any sense.' I had expected him to make protesting noises. I had expected him to whine about it. Instead he just kept quiet, staring at the now broken pencil. 'There's only one way to find out.' He stated after a long silence. 'No Al. Don't even think about it. The moment you show mom what you can do she will freak out. She'll drag you to the hospital. You'll be a freak. In the best case scenario they'll call you a fake and leave it...'

'…But in the worst case they'll lock me up.' Realization dawned on his face as he finished my sentence. It was the first time that we looked at each other with genuine fear. 'I won't allow that Al. You can't tell mom.' I correct myself quickly. 'We can't tell mom, or Davie, or anybody. We should try to figure this out on our own. If things get nasty then we'll go to mom immediately.'

That day we made some important rules. Whatever the future had in store for us, we we're pretty sure it wasn't going to be easy. So we we're going to need some rules to follow. At the end of the afternoon Alfred left. He was going to tell mom he was 'feeling better'. But as he left realization struck me. If things got nasty, or one of us got hurt, than we couldn't just simply go to mom. Because she would be an ocean away.

Our story continues on a Saturday afternoon. The last few days Alfred had been improving his powers, and I'd been searching for a cure. It seemed our priorities were a bit different. But let's just start off with the most dangerous thing Alfred did that day. That being putting a pair of fairy wings on his back and jumping out of a tree. Yes… I too was confused by that.

'Al, this seems like a stupid idea.' I stated as he climbed the tree higher and higher. He looked ridiculous. Wearing grandpa's old bomber jacket, his goggles and on his back a pair of pink, glittery fairy wings. 'Don't ya worry bro. This going to be great! I promise!' He looked around for a bit, and apparently had decided he was high enough. 'You know Al. That one time that I told you to jump out of the tree? I didn't really mean that, it was just a joke. So I suggest you just come down. And we'll get some ice cream or something.' His obnoxious laugh could be even heard down here. 'Where did you find those wings anyway? I knew about the goggles. And you've been wearing that jacket ever since you were born it seems. But the wings are new.'

We were deep in the forest that day. Alfred had picked out one of the highest trees and we had dragged old mattresses into the forest all morning. They were now laid down under the tree, if something went wrong, they would apparently break Alfred's fall. I doubted it sincerely, but then again he was the science genius. 'What did you say Matilda? I can't hear you from up here!' He laughed again. 'You know what? Never mind what I said. Go ahead and break something. Serves you right for calling me Matilda!' He ignored me or maybe he really couldn't hear me from up there. It didn't matter anyway. Slowly he let go of the branch that was located above the mattresses.

And suddenly I got scared again. 'Okay enough of that come down in this instance or I swear I'll go to mom and tell her everything!' For a second it looked like he was going to lose his balance. I tried not to panic, I needed to stay calm. 'Don't you worry dude. Now stop worrying and watch!' He took the fairy wings with both his arms and screamed: 'FOR NARNIA!' I tried to close my eyes but failed.

As he jumped I watched every second of it. He started cheering like he was in a roller coaster. When people fall, they go really fast. And I knew that even if the mattresses would save his ass, he would definitely hurt something. He still wasn't flying, and I realised that he was going the fall straight with his face down. 'Alfred!' I started running towards him. For some reason thinking that I could save him. But right as I reached him he suddenly took a spin and flew up straight. 'WOOHOOO THIS IS AWESOME!' As he flew higher and higher I felt my panic disappear and making place for shock. 'LOOK I'M FLYING!' He screamed, he started pretending he was Superman, only with the ridiculous fairy wings.

He started going down again. I was lost for words, I'd never actually seen something like this happen. And believe me when I say… it looked incredible. 'MATTHEW I CAN TOUCH THE CLOUDS! I'M FINALLY GOING TO TOUCH THE CLOUDS!' He stated excitingly as he flew higher again. He had almost reached the clouds when suddenly his movements got slower. And just like that he seemed to be losing control.

He started falling down, spinning and screaming. I started running as fast as I could. I took out my phone, ready to call 911. The few thoughts I had in that moment where vague. But the only thing that was clear to me was that he would die if this continued. I started running even faster. Alfred was going to fall into the nearby lake. And that would have maybe calmed me down. Wasn't it that the water would be just as hard as a brick wall from his height.

As I stood there panicking like shit I suddenly noticed people at the lake. It was a group of fishermen. One of them suddenly pointed at the sky. 'Hey look at that, that's one big bird!' Oh God no. One of the other men was apparently a bird lover. 'I've never seen that one before.' He took out his binocular and started searching the sky. The man kept discussing what the bird was chasing, when one of them suddenly looked in my direction. Maybe it was the stress, but I was apparently already completely invisible. The man looked confused at the place where I stood between the trees. Shit I'd forgotten about my clothes. I concentrated quickly, the ticklish feeling went over my skin again and I disappeared completely.

'Hey is somebody there Joe?' One of the men looked in my direction. 'No, why are you asking?' The man scratched his beard. 'I really thought I saw something there…' The man named Joe laughed and shook his head. 'You should've taken your glasses with you. You stubborn old man.' I searched the skies in panic. Where the hell was Alfred? It was then that I noticed him flying a lot lower over the forest.

I sighted in relief. The men were still talking about the big bird but I didn't care. I ran back towards the forest. Alfred had dropped himself on the mattresses. His hair stood out like that of a caveman, his eyes big with excitement and he looked like he'd just run a marathon. His entire face was red and he couldn't speak. I however could. 'What the hell Jones?! What the hell where you thinking?!' Instead of raising my voice, I started talking softer. And it really seemed to scare Alfred. 'That. Was. So…' He tried to catch his breathe. 'Awesome!' He raised his hand for a high-five. But the only thing I wanted to do was strangling him.

'What the fuck Alfred. You could have died you asshole!' I put on my biggest eyes and started talking with my most annoying American accent: 'Oh whoop-die fucking doo! Look at me, I'm Alfred and I can fly! Oh let me touch the clouds! HOW COULD THAT GO FUCKING WRONG?!' And this point I was shaking his head from left to right.

'Calm down Matt! I'm fine can't you see. I'm a bit cold, dazed and probably hella tired. But I'm fine. I just lost control a bit!' He smiled, but I started strangling him for real. 'People saw you Al! They thought you were a bird!' He freed himself from my grip and giggled. 'Is it a bird? No it's a plane! It is…' He stopped when he saw tears form in my eyes. 'Never do that again Al. I was so worried. You know how that feels? Seeing your brother falling out of the sky, knowing that you can't do anything about it?' His smile disappeared. He put a hand on my shoulder to reassure me. 'I'm sorry. I'll promise I'll be more careful next time. I didn't mean to scare you like that…' I quickly dried my eyes. 'Just shut up. We're going home. I've had enough almost dead experiences for today.'

I climbed of the mattresses and started following the path towards our house. 'Hey wait for me!' I heard him fall on the ground and curse. I tried not to smile, stupid asshole that he was. 'Matilda wait! What about the mattresses?' I turned around, he finally managed to catch up with me. 'We'll just leave them. Mom isn't going to miss them anyway. Also we have bigger things to worry about. Tomorrow our plane is going to leave. And you, my dear Freddie haven't packed your suitcase yet.'

His face went from annoyed to flat out offended in seconds. 'Did you just call me Freddie, after that scary animatronic-thing from the Fazbear restaurant?' I just continued walking. 'Hey don't ignore me like that! Answer me!' No way that I was ever going to answer to him. 'And what did you mean with you almost experiencing dead? I was the one who fell from the sky!' He ran after me. 'Are you still angry about the Matilda thing?'

I slowly turned around and slowly I opened my jacket. 'I've got something for you Al.' I beckoned him to come closer. His curiosity took the better of him. 'What is it?' Slowly I searched my pockets. 'I have it somewhere, just give me a second…' His impatient face brightened up as I found it. 'Show me, show me!' It was then that I presented him the finger. And for a second we just stood there. I couldn't help but to give in to a smug expression before continuing walking.

He just stood there, confused. For a boy genius he's rather slow sometimes. We were almost home when he realised what I'd just done. 'You're such an asshole sometimes.'


	5. Chapter 4 - Alfred: When You Get It

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! So I just realised something: I update really random. But the last few days it suddenly started snowing from out of nowhere. And it was like a new ice age had dawned. (I'm exaggerating, but I just don't like snow.) It gives me so much more respect for people in cold countries, where entire houses are buried in snow. That must be crazy. So we had a few days of, because public transport was broken. So I had a few days to work on this baby.
> 
> So yeah, here it is! The new chapter! I hope you guys like it, and I hope you don't mind the slow build up? But don't worry, in the next chapter we will discover some interesting stuff. ;) In the meantime, let's meet some more of our favourite characters! And let's say goodbye to the United States, because we're going to the Academy! (My favourite school on Earth, HA YOU GET, BECAUSE NATIONS AND STUFF.) I'm sorry, I have just as much humour as Germany it seems. But anyway enjoy!
> 
> So yeah Emily Jones = their mother. But I just realised something. Their Uncle is called Davie Jones. So let's make a plot twist that he has no heart and was a pirate! (Pirates of the Caribbean reference.) Kidding, that won't be happening. So thank you for reading this new chapter, I hope you enjoy. And if you (dis)like it please leave a review down below. Every time I read one of those I totally start tripping. It once happened in public transport and the woman besides me thought I was crazy. xD
> 
> A lot of new people here. Well Toris, Feliks, Ludwig, Gilbert, Kiku and Elizabeta obviously don't need explanation. I love the friendship between Toris and Alfred, and I really want to make Gilbert say West to Ludwig. But that sadly wouldn't make a lot of sense. So Luddie it is! xD
> 
> Also, I don't write the accents. My reasons: It's difficult, it reads difficult, and I want everyone to be able to read it without problems. I'm sorry if I've disappointed people now. :(
> 
> Also let's meet Mister Vadas the PE teacher! Yes some of the teachers are Ancient Countries. Mister Vadas is Magyar. Who trained Hungary when she was younger. (Although I don't remember if that's canon or not. Or if he even exists in the Hetalia universe... o.O) So yeah, the same counts for Victoria Kirkland (Arthur's mother.) She's Ancient Britannia.
> 
> Oh goodness, I just realised how long this is. I'm so sorry, but I just love chatting away. xD I'll stop now. And if you read all of this, then respect for you! Until next time! En vergeet niet: Blijf geweldig! (And don't forget: Stay Awesome!)

_I am vengeance, I am the night._ ~ Batman

I don't know what the most difficult part of the journey to England (or London I don't know man, it all looks the same to me) was. Maybe saying goodbye to everyone at the airport? Everyone was there, Uncles, Aunts, distant cousins and of course our grandparents. It was kinda sweet from everybody to show up. But also kinda awkward. Mom kept asking if we had everything. She also kept hugging Matthew, who of course looked super uncomfortable. I thought it was pretty funny.

I talked a bit with Uncle Davie. He was never really much of a talker, but he always gave awesome advice on how to annoy a certain classmate of mine. This year his idea was to replace all normal tea by ice tea. I could already imagine how that would go down. And I definitely kept it in the back of my mind. When mom was done pampering Matthew she started to lecture me.m'And don't you dare to repeat the garden incident!' She really failed at acting angry. But somehow she would never forget that incident that happened like what, two years ago? I let out a deep sight. 'Mom I told you before, I swear I didn't blow up the-' Davie apparently noticed mom and I were going to argue again, because he quickly silenced me.

'Emily, the kids have to go, otherwise they ain't gonna catch their flight.' Mom's "anger" disappeared immediately and made place for pampering. This time it was Matthew who looked amused. As we said goodbye to everyone it was our grandpa who pinched us both in the cheek, and told us to behave. And it was mom who of course decided she had the embarrass us. As we walked towards the gate I could hear her above everybody else: 'Don't forget to mail once a week!' She waved frantically. Davie looked the other way. He probably didn't want to be associated with her. 'I've put extra underwear in the left pocket of your suitcase Alfred! And also a package of wet wipes for if you get dirty!'

She had to scream at this point to reach us. 'I've put diarrhoeals in your backpack Matthew sweetie!' Both Matthew and I started walking faster. Matthew muttered something under his breath that seemed to express my thoughts. 'Why must mom always embarrass us on the airport?' We looked at each other with a grim expression. 'Because she's Satan in human form. That's why.' He didn't disagree with that. I thought that the worst was over after that. But I'd completely forgotten about the jetlag. It was late in the evening once we reached London airport. We ate some dinner and took public transport next. (Which is the absolute worst, I don't recommend it.) As we sat for hours travelling more and more north, we slowly left civilisation.

Matthew at this point looked tired as shit. That's what these trips do to ya. They make you tired, angry and very, very grumpy. I tried not to fall asleep myself, but my nerves were helping me to stay awake completely. I was happy to go back, but also nervous. Because every year I knew that some of my classmates still hated me. What had you expected? Me being the most popular guy at the Academy? Well in some sense people do generally like me. But in other years I've done some… things. Some people are still angry about that, and some just think I'm generally very annoying.

It was late at night when I pulled Matthew out the train and dragged him towards our bus. We were welcomed by the creepiest rain storm I'd ever witnessed. Lightning really freaks me out. You never know if you're the lightning bolts next victim. So you just have to cross your fingers and hope for the best. I was so freaked out by the lightning that we almost got hit by a car. 'Al what are you doing?' Matthew mumbled still half asleep. 'Nothing, just forgot about the different drive direction for a sec.' He made a humming sound as he dozed off again. In the end I managed to get us both safe and sound in the bus.

At this point it was a living hell outside. The rain was falling out of the sky in manner that seemed to scream: Welcome to the United Kingdom YOU FOOLS! I imagined of my friends at school saying that with his most exaggerated English accent. I started laughing, waking up Matthew by accident. 'Are we there yet?' He stretched out, totally getting in my personal space. 'Not yet, sorry to wake you up bro.' He shook his head, 'don't worry about it.' When he saw my tired expression he started sitting up straight. 'Get some sleep, you look like shit.' He didn't have to persuade me at all, I had difficulties keeping my eyes open at this point. 'Wake me up when were there.' He nodded and as I dozed off almost immediately I heard him say something along the lines of: 'I hate these fucking trips.'

I thought I would be having the most awesome sleep ever. But maybe you know from personal experience that sleeping in busses sucks. I was also having really weird ass dreams. They were so vague I almost didn't remember them. But in all of them bad stuff happened. When I woke up I felt awful. 'Al wake up, we're here.' I got slapped in the face, and for a second I just looked around in panic. Breathing quickly, I realised that I wasn't dying, or dead. Matthew had to basically drag me out of the bus, the bus driver was an impatient man and apparently didn't like how we took our sweet time.

We were now stranded outside a village. In the freaking middle of nowhere. And normally that would have freaked me out big time. (In horror movies they always find this abandoned cottage/mansion that's obviously cursed. But they spent the night their anyway and get killed, or even worse.) But after years of doing this it became normal. The rain was still our unwelcome guest. As the bus closed its doors I suddenly realised I felt very light. 'Hey Mattie?' He was shivering, looking as if he'd stepped out of a swimming pool. 'Yeah?' My brain was still hazy from sleeping, but I was pretty sure I wasn't floating. 'Where is our luggage?' For a second he looked at me confused.

Then realization dawned his face, and as the bus drove away we both started running. 'Wait! Stop!' First the bus driver seemed content with ignoring us. But in my panic I started losing control over my body. You know how it feels when you lose focus and start floating? It's like you're holding a balloon filled with Helium. If you let it go for even a small second, you will lose it. I felt the stormy wind pull at my clothes as I started spinning in the air.

Also something I wouldn't recommend. If you don't have a strong stomach like me, then you're basically fucked. I felt something pull at my leg. 'Dammit Al!' I landed on my butt, which hurt a lot more than I'd expected. 'Are you okay?' I ignored him and closed my eyes in concentration. This was my body, and if I said stay on the ground then it better listen.

'I'm gonna be fine. What about our luggage?' I opened my eyes and looked around for the bus. Maybe the driver had seen my little trick, 'cause he'd driven the bus into the bushes. 'I'm going to get those right now. Stay here, and with that I mean on the ground.' He looked at me in such a serious manner that I almost forgot about a snarky comeback. 'But Mattie, I believe I can fly.' He hit me on the head and started running towards the bus.

So there I was sitting. On the muddy, wet road in the middle of nowhere. With as company an angry bus driver, and my weird brother. And of course a very confused biological clock. (Should I be sleeping, having dinner or should I have lunch? I didn't really know anymore.) In the end we got our stuff and the driver was super confused. When he asked about my awesome trick we just acted dumb.

I hope that guy didn't go to therapy sessions after that, 'cause I would feel super guilty. As we walked back I thought to be funny to throw some mud at my brother's face. He apparently was not in any mood to fool around as he gave me this look that would have killed me. (If that had been his power. Which thank all Gods and all living creatures on planet Earth it wasn't.) When we reached the gate I suddenly got overwhelmed by memories, and I also lost my happy attitude. We still had a long ass way to walk towards the boy dorm from here. And I was tired, wet and probably getting sick by now. The gatekeeper from the school was an older man with an awesome beard, who I suspected was in secret Santa Claus.

When he saw us he waved. As always he was sitting in his awesome little cottage-thingy. 'Well, guess who came back for another year of hard-core education?' He laughed as he lit up a cigarette. Matthew smiled, genuinely looking happy to see the man again. 'It's good to be back Joe. And yes I'm surprised too, I never thought Alfred would return for another year after last years… incident…'

I sighed as I showed Joe my papers. As he looked them over he grinned. 'Looks all good to me. And your papers I don't need to see Matthew Jones, you're a good kid.' Surprised I looked up. 'What come on, you gotta be kidding Joe! That ain't fair and you know it!' The man simply shrugged his shoulders as he took another drag of his cigarette. 'Sorry lad. Maybe if you don't set anything on fire this year I might be nicer. Also learn to properly speak English, it's not that hard.' The man shook his head and looked at the sky. 'We can talk more later. You two better hurry inside. You've got your keys of your new room, so getting inside shouldn't be a problem. The weather is getting shittier with the years, I'll see both of you later.' As Matthew and I waved him goodbye, we started the long walk towards the boy dorm.

And when I say long, I mean long. The World Academy has a giant campus. I can't even start about all facilities that there are, not only because both Matthew and I were running to get inside as fast as possible. But also because it's dark and you'll see later anyway. So no point in unnecessary background information.

As we ran past the main building I immediately noticed not a soul being outside. The three most important buildings were of course glowing with warmth. And as I started running faster I noticed my brother getting slower. I immediately slowed down to his tempo. 'My legs are dying.' He stated in between breaths. 'We're almost there.'

'I should have trained more over the holiday.' I nodded in agreement. 'It's your own fault.' I heard him grumble in annoyance. When we finally got there we quickly went inside. Matthew needed some time to catch his breath, and I also leaned against the familiar walls. 'You have your keys right?' I held up mine and he too grabbed them from his pocket. 'You two, identify yourselves!' An angry sounding voice said. We both looked up surprised. The man we stood before us was at least two meters long, was made of muscles and looked ready to murder us. Meet one of the Academy's teachers. Mister Vadas is PE teacher for the upper classes. And he'll probably be our teacher again this year

The man is crazy, that's what most of us generally agree on. He doesn't live in the teacher dorms but here, as he's our guardian. He makes sure we don't stay up too late, we don't make a mess of our living accommodation and most importantly, he makes sure fights are avoided. 'Identify yourselves! It's one in the morning, what were you two doing outside?!' Did I mention that he always screams? Apparently he can't hear very well, and this causes him to scream most of the time. I've never see him whisper. Matthew was the one who held out his identity card. 'Hello mister Vadas, we just arrived. We were planning on going to our rooms.' He looked over the papers with a critical face.

'It's you two.' Did I mention that he hates us? Because he hates us. Why I don't really know. Well actually I'm lying, I know every reason why he hates us. From Matthew being too kind hearted and soft. To me having too much attitude and causing too much trouble during his classes. His evil eyes went from Matthew to me. We both looked down quickly. One thing is very clear: Try to keep mister Vadas as your friend, because once he's your enemy... then you're basically fucked for the rest of your school career. 'Well very well then. You two are dismissed, go to your room and keep quiet.' We nodded, and started moving toward the staircases when I said out of habit: 'I hope you had a good vacation sir.'

Matthew stood there frozen, and mister Vadas slowly narrowed his eyes. 'You can stop the attitude mister Jones. Or would you like for me to tell you everything about my holiday in my office the next few weeks?' Matthew grabbed my shoulder, apologized for my rude behaviour and forced me up the stairs. 'I swear, if he takes it out on both of us the next time, I swear I'll murder you. I'm done with always having to save your ass.'

'I love you too.' He shook his head and murmured something that was too soft to understand. We walked up the stairs (ugh there so many, I'd forgotten about that) and found out that our rooms where quite close to each other. I stood still at Matthew's room (number 699) and as he opened the door softly he looked at me with tired eyes. 'Well I guess I'll see you tomorrow.' I nodded and waved. 'Sure thing, good night my little Maple Flower.' He shook his head as he dragged his suitcase inside.

'Oh and Alfred, take a shower, you look like an escaped caveman.' And just like that he was gone. I slowly made my way to my own room. When I entered room 693 it looked quiet. When I entered the bedroom I however did notice someone sleeping in the left bed. Quietly I moved for the bathroom and checked my reflection. Matthew was as usual right about the caveman thing. My face was covered with mud, I looked like I'd been swimming in the most disgusting river in England. After a quick (and much needed) shower I sneaked into the bedroom, and crawled under the blankets. The magic of instant snooze made me a goner in matter of seconds.

This time there were no weird ass dreams to annoy me. The only thing that was probably visible in my brain would be a moving screensaver. (You know, the one with the waves, I love that one.) I completely forgot to check out my new roommate. Oh well, I could do that tomorrow, school wasn't starting yet. The next day I woke up at around ten, I felt something carefully poke my cheek. I heard someone talk but didn't really know who. Slowly I turned around. 'I'm sleeping, I'll eat breakfast later…' I got pocked again. 'Alfred, please wake up.' Slowly I turned on my back. The light from the window hurt my eyes. 'Mattie what is it, did you turn invisible again?' I heard the unfamiliar person hold back a laugh. 'Alfred wake up, you're at school remember?'

Shit.

I opened my eyes quickly and started doing all kind of weird ninja moves. 'WHAT THE FUCK, WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU!?' The boy wore simple clothes. A pair of jeans, a green t-shirt and clipped on it was a dark blue badge with on it the flag of Lithuania.

'Calm down Al. It's me Toris, you were just dreaming. Please don't punch me in the stomach.' I finally calmed down. Apparently I'd almost punched him in the gut. My brain cells finally started working. Quickly I picked up my glasses, and when my sight became clear I looked up. The dude who stood there was Toris Laurinaitis. As you may've already guessed, he's from Lithuania. 'Toris? What are you doing here?' He shook his head, as if he couldn't believe that question. 'I'm your roommate of course.' I stood up quickly, immediately feeling like shit. I really needed coffee, otherwise this would be a terrible day. As I put on the first shirt that I found on the ground his words suddenly hit me.

'So you're my roommate?!' My tired expression went from slightly annoyed to happy in seconds. 'Awesome! We can finally share a room, this is great!' I felt better already, as I kept on rambling about all the cool things we could do as roommates he just stood there. He looked a bit overwhelmed by my sudden turn in mood. When I finally got quiet he shook his head. 'I'd forgotten how fast you can talk.'

You might be wondering who Toris is. Well he and I became friends in our first year. Toris is an awesome dude. He's really cheerful and nice, but a bit of an introvert. He's always super serious, and in the past few years I tried in vain to have a good laugh with him. But he generally doesn't seem to understand jokes. People used to take advantage of him. And when people made fun of him I always got his back. Because that's were friends are for. No way that I was going to let anyone bully him. In our fourth year he started practising martial arts, and he seems to be a lot more confident ever since. I in fact once thought it would be fun to have a little fight with him.

You know just for fun, nothing serious. Well, I regretted that decision for months. Not only didn't he hold back, but he also gave me a nasty blue eye as a souvenir. He kept apologizing for weeks after wards. When my brother came to visit me he looked super pissed. He kept asking me what the hell I'd been thinking.

Well if I'd learned one thing from that experience it was to never underestimate Toris again. He might look very innocent, with the green nervous eyes and his frail build. But he's actually a killing machine. 'It's good the see you too man.' I hopped out of bed and opened my suitcase to search for some more clothes. 'So how was your vacation? Was it nice to be back home?'

While I searched for a matching pair of socks, Toris told me all about his vacation. About how his car had to be fixed for the millionth time, his new annoying baby nephew and probably the most important thing: He'd finally gotten the courage to send a friend request to Natalya Arlovskaya on Facebook. 'What did she do? Did she accept?' Toris pulled his brown (shoulder length, I may add) hair back in a ponytail. He always did that when in thought. 'She accepted it. But I feel like she may be planning on killing me now. Since she now knows where I live and all…' For your information, Natalya is this crazy (Belarussian) chick in our class.

And from all the girls he could have picked to be crushing on, he had to decide to fall for the psychopath. And if you think I'm exaggerating, then let me tell you I'm not. That girl is absolutely nuts, she has this weird obsession with her brother. And she's totally into summoning ghosts and demons. And I'm not a big fan of ghost so Toris shouldn't have been surprised when I freaked out.

For years I'd been trying to get her out of his mind. I introduced him to all girls on campus. I went speed dating with him. I basically begged him to change his mind. I reminded him why she was dangerous, scary and probably instable. But he wouldn't hear any of it. And every year it became more painful to watch them. How he would smile and talk with her. And how she would break his fingers and give him her best dead glares.

I guess it's still a better love story then Twilight. But I guess I'll never really get him. I could understand why he felt attracted to her, because she's really pretty and all. But Toris isn't the type to only judge on looks. But hey, I'm his friend, so I should be totally supporting his decisions. If I couldn't change his mind about it, then she would do it sooner or later. Because she has absolutely no interest him. And I kinda feel for him, because he isn't even friend zoned. He's in her not-even-if-my-life-depended-on-it-zone. So instead of telling him that he made a terrible mistake, I instead smiled and patted his shoulder. 'Don't you worry. It's a good thing that she accepted your invitation. It means she doesn't hate you. And that's a good place to start!'

He looked up at me hopefully, and I realized for the millionth time, that I was a terrible friend. 'You really think so?' I nod with as much enthusiasm as I can bring myself to feel. 'Absolutely, maybe this year, you can finally have a normal conversation with her!' He got really excited by my pep-talk. 'Thank you Alfred. You always cheer me up when I feel down. You're right it's a new year, so maybe the odds will be more in my favour!'

We continued to talk about our time off when suddenly I realized something. It was about the whole power-thing. I suddenly realised how difficult it was to not tell anything about it too Toris. And I don't mean that I can't shut up… (I take that back) But there were also other ways that Toris could find out.

Because sure, I finally started getting the hang of my flight abilities. But sometimes when I would fall asleep, I would start floating without realizing. And there wasn't much that I could do about it. What if one day Toris waked up and saw me like that? I told myself that discussing this with Matthew would probably be a good idea. But that thought slipped away when suddenly Toris said something weird.

'You were really talking nonsense Al. You kept on rambling about turning invisible, and that you brother needed to stop whining about it.' He grinned as he looks at something on his laptop screen. I just stood there frozen, looking at him with a horrified face. 'It was kinda weird, but also really funny. If you talk often in your sleep I'll record it sometimes. So you can hear it yourself.' I almost dropped my clothes on the ground. But slowly I managed to put them in my closet. 'Did I really say such stupid things?' He nodded as he closed his laptop. 'Don't worry about it, I won't laugh. We all have our weird quirks. I always have the window open, even in the winter. Many of my old roommates hated that.' I slowly shook my head and started feeling super relieved. So I hadn't really revealed the secret. He thought I was just talking nonsense in my sleep, good.

We talked a bit (correction I talked, he listened) about my new games. And as I started ranting about the new PlayStation console I suddenly heard a weird sound. Toris looked at me surprised. 'Was that your stomach Al?' I grinned, I was done with packing out anyway. 'Oops you caught me. I guess it's time for dinner!'

We were standing in the hallway when suddenly I realised I hadn't put on my badge yet. 'Be right back, it's somewhere between the comics and the socks…' The school badges are a part of the uniform that must always be worn (inside the school), even when in casual clothing. The badges can be found in six colors. There is a color for every continent. There's dark blue, for Europeans, red for Asians. Green for South America, purple for Oceania. Orange for North Americans and brown for Africa. On Toris his badge there is the flag of Lithuania. On my badge there is the flag of the United States.

(The funny thing is that Matthew's badge has the flag of Canada on it. As he officially has the Canadian nationality.) The badges are a way of telling where someone comes from without constantly having to ask. And while the badges can come in handy, they are also known for causing rifts between students. But I disagree with that, because if you go to an international boarding school, then you probably have desire to make friends beyond your own neighbourhood.

As I put aside some stuff, I finally found my badge. I put it on quickly and ran back towards the hallway. Toris was standing there with Kiku. 'Dude!' I ran towards him without thinking. And as I started hugging him, I felt he was starting to panic. 'Alfred please, some space?' He managed to say. I let go of him quickly. I'd forgotten about his problem with intimate contact.

Kiku Honda comes from Japan. And he and I became friends during our second year. He and I became roommates, and we've definitely gone through some stuff together. He's not very tall, has black hair and brown eyes. And the best thing: He talks with a funny accent. Well, many people here talk with an accent. But he's definitely the winner, if there was ever going to be a contest for the funniest accent. I didn't really hang out with him during the first year, he was super shy, and hardly spoke any English. He was socially awkward, and only allowed a few people around him. And as I was a big explosion of hyperactiviness, he probably didn't think we would get along very well. During second year we became roommates and lab partners. And everything changed.

I soon found out he was a hard-working smartass, who absolutely adores animals. But we really started to hit our friendship off when we discovered our shared love of video games. And sure there had been times that we fought. And there were times that we wanted to strangle each other. But in the end friends stay friends, right?

He's made a lot of progress over the years. He's a lot less stressful over his grades. Doesn't freak out immediately if someone touches him. And because of my awesome skills in the English language, Kiku has now become a pro too. Kiku smiles as I let him go quickly. 'Alfred, what nice to see you here. So it turns out we're neighbours this year. How very fortunate.' He shook my hand, Kiku is always super polite and will go through tons of super formal speeches sometimes. But you get used to it, trust me.

'Kiku and I were just talking about our times at home.' Toris stated. 'Awesome, so dude how was it to be back in Japan?' We started making our way downstairs. Kiku had apparently spent most of his time in Italy this summer. And he'd absolutely loved it. He had of course made a lot of pictures, and I made him promise to show all of them to me.

We made our way outside, although the sky was cloudy it wasn't raining anymore. 'Hey how long have you guys been here anyway?' Toris and Kiku started discussing. 'Well when I arrived Kiku was already here. And I arrived two days ago.' Kiku seemed to also be counting days. 'If I'm correct I arrived five days ago.' As we went down the path I saw the girls coming from their own dorm. 'Five days? That's a long time dude. What did you do here all this time?' 'I often went to the library with Arthur. And when more people arrived we went to the cinema.' I looked up quickly, 'wait what movie did you guys go to?' A few girls walked by and they smiled and waved at us. 'We went to a film about a man who goes through difficult trials to win back the love of his daughter. And in the process he saves a lot of people from a dangerous weapon.'

That movie didn't really ring a bell, but apparently it'd been a lot of fun. As we entered the main building, we immediately made our way towards the common room. In the mean time we discussed the movies lore, and made fun of my tradition of hitting my head against solid objects. Suddenly I stopped walking when I realised something. 'Wait Kiku, you just said that you guys went to the cinema. But before that, you said that you were hanging around with Arthur in the library. So he's here?'

'Obviously, he's probably already busy with breakfast.' Toris said as he held the door open for a few girls. They smiled at him, and one Lithuanian girl waved at him. I tried not to panic and instead shifted focus on the Lithuanian girl. 'She's cute Toris. Maybe you should talk to her.' He obviously noticed how I changed the subject.

'I'm not going to talk with her Al. You know I'm only interested in a certain… person.' I started laughing, he was talking like it was a secret. 'You can stop acting like it's a secret. Everyone knows about your eternal love for Satan.' Kiku didn't seem bothered by our discussion. But apparently he thought there were more important things to talk about, as he interrupted our little fight.

'Alfred could you please not refer to Natalya as Satan? If Toris likes her, then you should let him be.' With those words we entered the common room. It's basically the place where everyone eats. It's in the middle of the school on the first floor. And it's a nice place to sit and talk. The room looked warm, cosy, but at the same time it looked like it was perfect for parties and official meetings. There are tables everywhere, and most people have a regular spot where they prefer to sit. I let my eyes trail from left to right. And just as I expected, my classmates sat at their regular tables. As we made our way towards them, suddenly someone behind use screamed: 'Think quick Alfred!' I turned around confused. But a spoon was already coming my way. It would have definitely hit my face if Toris hadn't snatched it from the air.

It was Gilbert Beilschmidt (a German Albino with self-proclaimed awesomeness) who'd thrown the spoon. He ran towards us and looked surprised from me to Toris. 'Dammit Toris, why did you have to ruin that?! It would have been beautiful!' Toris looked a bit confused, still holding the spoon in his left hand. 'But wouldn't that have hurt?' He asked a bit confused. As he gave Gilbert back the spoon.

I let out a sight. 'Don't think too much about it. He was just joking around. Thanks for catching it.' Gilbert was already slamming Kiku in the back. 'It's good the see you guys again. It's been a while!' Kiku doubled over from the force. 'Yes, it's very pleasant to see you too Gilbert. Could you please refrain from hurting my back? I often have pain there, so you would only make it worse.' He started laughing his weird laugh. I can't even imitate it. It's really weird. 'You sound just like an old man!' Kiku muttered something as he excused himself. He made his way towards some of his friends. 'And you Alfred, you should start training with me and Luddie again! Even Toris has quicker reflexes.'

Speaking about the Devil, Ludwig was standing behind Gilbert, ready to give him a piece of his mind. 'Gilbert, were you throwing spoons at people again?' So let me tell you something about Ludwig Beilschmidt. He's tall, muscular like a rock and looks like a super intimidating army soldier with his blue ice and blond hair. 'Little brother there you are! I was just talking with Alfred about training together again.' Yes Gilbert just said little brother. Because for mysterious reasons Ludwig is the younger brother. Most people don't even realize that those two are related.

Their personalities can be very different sometimes. Ludwig is tough, serious and seems to be obsessed with the rules. Gilbert acts as a hooligan, loves to picks fights with people and has an ego bigger than all of Europe. But the creepy thing is, they actually have a lot in common too. How I don't know, but apparently things like that are possible. Ludwig's expression gave away that he definitely noticed the change in subject. 'Oh really? Well Alfred you know you're always welcome to train with us. I hope you had a nice vacation, but sadly I need to steal Gilbert from you. He and I have things to discuss.' Gilbert grinned. 'Come one Luddie. School hasn't really started yet, you should relax a bit. I was just joking with the spoon, right Alfred?'

To be honest, if that spoon had really slammed in my face, I may've been more pissed. 'Sure, we we're just kidding around Ludwig.' But apparently he'd made up his mind about it. 'You don't always have to take his side Alfred. But my brother and I will be right back.' He pulled Gilbert's jacket and the brother started discussing with each other in German.

I may not speak German, but I definitely did recognize when someone is pissed. And when Germans get angry, they sound really angry. But Gilbert didn't seem to be bothered by it at all. Toris shook his head. 'Those two will never change.' I agreed with him, but felt not need to express that thought out loud. We made our way towards Kiku. 'Nice catching by the way. I didn't even have time to progress what just happened. But you just caught that spoon like it was nothing.' Toris looked away. 'It was nothing really. You would have done the same. Also Gilbert is right, you're out of shape.' Super rude right? I thought so too, because I gave him the finger as we sat down besides Kiku.

'What's up everyone?' Kiku sat beside Elizabeta Héderváry who hugged both me and Toris the moment we sat down. After that she started talking cheerfully. Elizabeta comes from Hungary, and she's probably the manliest person at the entire school.I know what you must think: A girl, being super manly? Her appearance is misleading. She has long brown hair, big green eyes, and often wears dresses when not in uniform. Boys are always trying to flirt with her, and she loves cute and girly things.

And first I thought she was just a really nice and cute girl. But then PE started… She was the only one who did hundred push ups. She was the only one who kept running after an hour.But it didn't stop there, she talks like a brute from time to time. Had the tendency to act super dominant in the few relationships she had (not that that's a bad thing, her boyfriends were just a bit surprised by it. That's all.) And she became arm-wrestling champion four times in a row. Many boys felt intimidated by her. But once I started talking with her, I found out she was actually pretty nice.

Also, she can hold her liquor very well so that's awesome. She and Kiku have their own Yaoi fan club (whatever that may be) and she generally hangs out with either the girls, or with Gilbert and the gang. 'It's so nice to be back. Sure I love being home again, but where I live it's just so quiet. Nothing ever happens!' She shook her head with distaste. We shared weird things that had happened during the vacation. And at some point I made her laugh so hard that milk came out of her nose.

'Are you okay?' She nodded as she wiped her face with a handkerchief. 'Sorry it's just that you and Mattie always experience the weirdest things.' Toris suddenly stood up, 'sorry but I'll be right back. I just saw Feliks, I guess he arrived just now.' It doesn't matter how close Toris and I become. Feliks will always be his BFF, and I'm totally okay with that. Elizabeta nodded. 'Don't worry about us. Go say hi to him.' I drank the last bit of my orange juice and waved him away. 'Don't just stand there. You don't want to miss him, we'll see you later.' Kiku agreed with me, and just like that Toris started running.

Elizabeta sighed and looked around, 'where is Matthew by the way?' Gilbert had returned at this point and apparently he'd caught that. 'Matthew? He's still sleeping. He walked into the room yesterday with mud on his face. He looked like he'd experienced a hurricane. He'll probably eat later.' I almost spit out whatever I'd just been eating.

'Wait so you're his roommate?' Gilbert nodded, he seemed very pleased with himself. 'Don't worry. I'm the most awesome roommate that there is!' Ludwig who sat beside him slowly shook his head. Poor Matthew. As we continued our little conversations I suddenly realised someone was missing. 'Hey Kiku, where's Arthur?' Kiku who'd been catching up with Ludwig looked at my confused.

But his expression quickly made place for pity. The others had grown quiet too. 'Did I say something wrong?' Kiku shook his head, 'no that's not it Alfred. I was searching for him too. But apparently Arthur is not in a very good state right now.' Now I was really starting to get worried. 'What happened?' I wasn't talking to anyone in particularly. But it was Gilbert who answered. 'You haven't heard it yet?' I shook my head, wondering what was going on. 'Arthur's screwed. Yesterday around 2 in the afternoon he found out who his new roommate was. Apparently he got so startled that he's hiding in the library.'

'Arthur startled? You got to be kidding, nothing scares him!' Gilbert laughed. 'Well than you obviously have never had to share a room with Ivan before.'  
And just like that it suddenly made completely sense.


	6. Chapter 5 - Arthur: Non-Existent Magic

_The harder you fall, the higher you bounce._ ~ Victoria Kirkland

As far as I remember we have always lived in London. The city was my home. But before we settled down in the city we had apparently lived in a village. Sometimes Allistor would vaguely tell stories about it. How everyone knew everybody. How mother dragged us to church every Sunday. And how I as little kid kept on talking about my imaginary friends. Apparently my wild imagination made it difficult for me to make friends. The few friends that I had would betray me, leave me or in the end weren't even friends to begin with. So it became natural to me to be suspicious of new people. When I asked mum why we moved she simply said that the villagers were not very open-minded people. They found that a mother without a husband was outrageous.

In the beginning, the move had been difficult. My new classmates thought I was odd. And I was difficult to hang out with. Every time one of my brothers would turn eleven, they would leave to go to the Academy. And every year the house felt emptier. Not that Uncle Michael minded the silence. I often asked if he ever wanted to return to Ireland. But he always managed to dodge those questions perfectly. I wished I could tell you that I had the perfect childhood. But of course there were problems along the way. Bullies can be found everywhere, no matter to which end of the world you travel. Grown-ups that fight are also not very rare. As Aunt Róisín had lost her job, and had a hard time finding something new. I could often hear them fight in the kitchen. Discussing how they were going to pay the rent. I felt guilty in those moments for not growing up quickly enough. So when I turned ten, many considered me to be a very mature person.

As I would switch school at the end of the school year mother wanted to talk about my future education. I was a very timid person. I preferred spending my time in my room, listening to music, playing the bass guitar or reading a good book. But I didn't mind hanging out with people who I considered good natured. So when she said I would have to say goodbye to the city of London, I couldn't help but to feel sad. 'How will I see James?' I asked her quietly. I stopped playing and instead stared at the pictures on my wall. James was the one friend who'd always stayed at my side. We both enjoyed music, and as he was a drummer we often played together. I heard mom take a deep breath on the other side of the phone. She had of course expected that question to come up.

'You can always visit him during the holidays. And you can call him as much as you want. You shouldn't worry too much about it love, if your friendship is strong, then you'll keep in contact.' I didn't like the sound of that. I didn't like it at all. But there wasn't much I could do about it. 'He's my only friend…' I stated, feeling more sad than defeated. For a second it was very quiet. But then mum whispered: 'I know.' And so I had to tell James about the unfortunate event that would take place. And we both expressed or worries. But as he smiled at me, I felt secure that we could stay friends. We could fix this, James had never backstabbed me. He would never speak an evil word about anyone. And I cared very deeply for him. And for odd reasons I knew that he felt the same. And just like all good things come to an end, so did our last year together.

On my last day I was kicking a football against the wall. And I stared at the setting sun. From the corner of my eyes I could see James cross the road. We'd played one last game of football. And as it was getting late he needed to leave. I'd known that saying goodbye wasn't going to be easy. But I still felt something stick in my throat as I watched the sun disappear. In my first week at the academy I thought that things were going to be easy. What could go wrong during the first week? Unless the world decided to end I doubted something catastrophically would happen. Well lucky me, nothing world ending happened. But I did learn a very important lesson that first week. Never trust anyone. Not even yourself, and I learned that the hard way during my first day. You remember Francis? The French bloke who had the aura of arrogance around him and who laughed because of my eyebrows? Well it turned out he was an enormous asshole.

How long did it take me to discover that? One day. Not more and not less, in only one day he'd managed to go from acceptable to biggest wanker on earth. It was the first day at school, I'd just met Francis in our room. We talked as we made our way over the campus together. We were exploring the grounds while trying to get friendly. 'So Arthur, what do you like to do in your free time except for reading?' I didn't really pay attention to what he said, so I simply mumbled that I liked cooking. Apparently I had summoned some type of inner passion of him, as he started talking about his favourite recipes. I simply nodded my head as he ranted about turning food into art. Honestly? I didn't cook that much.

Sure sometimes I tried making an egg or something. But the only things that I could make without putting things on fire were instant noodles and microwave pancakes. My mind kept racing around. Before Francis had decided to make his great entrance in my life, I'd been reading a letter that I'd found on my bed. It was a letter of mum in which she wished me good luck and told me all kinds of tips and little tricks. Like: Keep your room clean, and organize everything efficient. And the very embarrassing but true: If you put a label in your underwear you won't lose it easily. But the sentence that had really caught my attention was one hidden between the lines…

There is still so much you need to know, but we'll talk about those things a different time. After that she continued like the sentence had never existed. And it bugged me. It really did. Had she really thought I wouldn't notice? Had she really told herself that I would look over it, without giving it a second thought at all? I rubbed my forehead with my hands. I was going to get a headache if I kept on thinking about this now. So as Francis said something about the difference between lunch and brunch, I told him that we should sit down somewhere. We decided that the hills were a good place. Many others were hanging out there as well. And I wanted to focus on socializing and meeting new people. (Yes you heard that correctly, don't you dare be surprised.) As we sat down however my headache became worse. It was probably caused by the weather. It was apparently one of the warmest summers ever.

And I wouldn't be surprised if the rest of the year would be filled with heavy rainstorms to composite it. Francis didn't seem to notice how uncomfortable I was starting to feel. In the end I couldn't handle it anymore, and I excused myself to search for a toilet. The only thing I really wanted right now was some water and shadow. Francis didn't mind, and a small hope formed inside of me that maybe Francis wasn't as bad as he pretended to be. I started making my way downhill and let out a deep sight. Cold sweat was trailing over my back. My body felt heavy and my throat hurt from lack of water. My headache was also getting nastier with the minute. As I made my way towards garden I suddenly slowed down. Why was I going the garden again? Confused I stared at the sky. 'Oh right, toilet.' I told myself, blaming the weather for my floating memory. I really hated this weather. It was a long walk, but it gave me some time to look around. People were sitting everywhere. They seemed to be enjoying the weather while chatting about anything that caught their interest.

One group of friends caught my eyes. One of the guys was reading a book, but the others didn't seem to mind. I wondered if I could also make those types of friends. The type of people who wouldn't think it was an annoying habit to stick your nose into a book. And who would accept me for who I was. But I knew that was just very wishful thinking. As I entered the garden I couldn't help but to look around in awe. The garden was enormous. Everywhere you could find, flowers, plants and trees. And people were scattered around. Sitting on benches, chasing ducks our trying to pull their friends in the lake against their will. The entirety of it was almost radiating peace.

I followed the path while searching for a sign that would direct me to the restrooms. But I got distracted a lot. I was feeling very tired. My body felt heavy, my sight became a bit unclear, and I was starting to feel dizzy. 'Why am I here again?' I wondered out loud. It had something to do with… I stood still completely now. I was staring off into space while trying to remember. Don't get me wrong, but I wasn't very worried about it all. This had happened many times before. I would suddenly space out and forget what I was doing. I'd gotten very used to it. My brothers thought it was just a part of my weirdo act. And my Uncle and Aunt thought it would stop if we just didn't worry about it too much.

Suddenly I remembered. 'Ah right the forest!' I exclaimed, feeling relieved to finally be able to continue my way. In the back of mind I told myself that there was no forest inside the school grounds. But I ignored that part of my mind completely. As I left the path I noticed that it had become very quiet. I was in fact completely alone. I didn't think much about it, maybe this wasn't a popular spot to hang out? I nodded as I felt very satisfied with my own explanation. And as the leaves of the trees started rustling, I told myself that it was just the wind. I can't tell you what possessed me. For some reason it just all made complete sense to me. Although we all know better, right?

'Arthur?'A voice asked, so closely to my right ear that I could feel the person breathe in my neck. I didn't turn around, I didn't even get startled. A mysterious voice whispering in my ear? Probably nothing weird, I told myself. I'd probably just been imagining it. That happened all the time. Sunlight was slowly getting blocked out by the trees around me. And soon enough I was walking through the cold misty shadows. I could've sworn that I heard someone walk behind me, but that must have been my imagination too. Without the blazing heat my mind became a lot clearer though. Slowly I started walking slower and slower. Until I stood still completely and looked around confused. 'What am I doing here?' I allowed my hands to pull at the strands of hair in the back of my neck. 'Why the hell did I expect a toilet to be here?'

'I should go back. They are probably worried about me.' I mumbled under my breath. I still don't really know to who I was referring to when I used the word they. But I probably meant my brothers and my new roommate. When I turned around I stood eye to eye with a very unpleasant surprise. The thing that looked at me screamed so loudly that I felt my eardrums hurt. 'dOn't TuRn ArOuNd!' It screeched. I couldn't really make out what it was, as one moment I fell down, and the next moment my head hit a bunch of tree roots.

But it had looked like a woman, a very scary ghost-like woman. And as I lay there, passed out like some sort of hero, I kept dreaming about a woman singing my name in the forest. The melody sounded very familiar, but she had obviously changed the text. 'Arthur dear come follow me, follow me, follow me. Arthur dear behind the trees. I'll be waiting.' The woman's voice sang. But instead of soothing me with her words, I felt like she threatening me.

'Hey wanna join us?' My eyes snapped open and I turned my head quickly. I was standing in the garden. I was looking at a pavilion. Two girls were sitting there and playing. One was playing the harp and the other the flute. Confused I looked around. The garden was filled with people. People from all ages were hanging around and enjoying the nice weather. 'Hello?' The male voice said again. I turned around. At the foot of the stairs was a boy standing. He didn't look much older, but he was definitely taller. He looked very comfortable in his surroundings, and he was holding a guitar in his hand. 'Want to join us?' He asked again. I looked at him with probably a very confused face.

He had brown curly hair, green eyes, lightly tanned skin and a friendly smile on his face. He scratched his head. 'I need to go anyway. So if you want to you can join them. Know how to play the guitar?' He asked, his eyes were questioning. When I didn't say anything he quickly reassured me that the guitar that he was using was part of the pavilion, and that I could just leave it there once I was done playing. I tried to find the words to express my confusion.

'I… I thought…' I pointed towards the old pavilion. 'Toilet?' I asked, hoping he didn't notice that my legs were shaking. He looked at me with the same curious expression that a puppy could have. 'Toilet?' He stated just as confused as I was feeling. But suddenly his face cleared up, and his happy expression returned. 'Oh you must be new around here! Well if you're looking for the restroom, you need to follow the path out of the garden, and towards the sport fields. Those toilets are the nearest by.' He pointed directions while putting the guitar away. 'Thank you. Sorry… I…' I was still in shock. I felt like I was waking up from an odd dream. What the hell had I been doing in the garden? I remembered being with Francis, but at some point I'd been looking for a toilet...

'No problem! I still get lost myself. The name is Antonio Fernández Carriedo.' I shook his hand, cold sweat was trailing down my face by now. But I actually didn't feel bad, my headache had at least decided to quit. 'I'm Arthur, a pleasure to meet you.' Antonio was a second year student at the academy and he apparently loved to help out new people. As he insisted on guiding me. 'It happens all the time, don't worry about it.' He said as we made our way out of the garden. 'When I was just a freshman here, I got lost all the time. If it wasn't for my friends I would've been looking around for my classes the entire day.' I still felt disorientated. We walked past the toilets and Antonio looked at me surprised. 'Didn't you need to go?' I quickly started shaking my head.

'No, I'm just going to look for a… friend.' Good Lord, did I just call Francis a friend? I felt like puking. My unorganized mind was constantly distracted by Antonio telling me things. Sometimes he would state that grass would look really pretty if it was blue or whatever. But sometimes he would actually say something really helpful. We made our way towards the hills. And I felt a lot less stressed and confused once we walked up the hills. Someone was waving at us frantically at the top of the hill. I didn't recognize the boy. He had hair that almost looked like snow, eyes that had a weird red colour and a face full of excitement. 'Toni! I found your guy!' Antonio looked surprised and started running.

At first I wanted to leave the two friends alone, but then I noticed that Francis was talking with them. Antonio was hugging the Frenchman like he was an old friend. I walked towards them carefully. Francis looked up surprised when he saw me. 'Arthur there you are! Where were you, I've been waiting for you for at least half an hour!' I looked at him confused. Had it really been half an hour? As I was staring off into space again, Antonio looked from me to Francis. 'Arthur this was the friend you were looking for?' My face was slowly turning bright red at the word friend. But I didn't correct him. 'Francis how do you know these guys?' I asked, trying to get rid of the awkward silence.

It was the boy with white hair that decided to answer. 'Hey, the name is Gilbert the great and awesome. Nice to meet you! This here is my buddy Antonio. And this here is apparently Francis his childhood friend. Are you also an old friend of Antonio?' I felt stunned for a second. This Gilbert was a very energetic person. 'Not really. I got lost and he helped me find my way back.' I looked from Antonio to Francis. They didn't look like the types to be childhood friends. Probably because while Francis was obviously French, Antonio seemed to be the type to life in Italy, Spain or Portugal, pick your favourite.

Antonio and Gilbert quickly decided to show us around. And in the mean time I quietly observed them. Antonio seemed like the type of guy who is very kind, but can also be too light hearted. And Gilbert… where do I even start with him? Everything about him screamed for attention. From his looks to his behaviour. And what fascinated me most was the way he interacted with people he knew. With some he was extremely loud, and maybe even a bit violent. But when he talked with girls his voice became a lot softer. And his way of moving a lot more careful. And it was actually kind of funny.

During the end of the day they'd dragged me over every inch of the school grounds. And although I'd been quiet and distant at first. I couldn't help but to quickly warm up those these people. We picked up our schedules for our upcoming classes. And my schedule didn't look that bad. Antonio stated that he would kill someone to return to his first year. The weather wasn't unpleasant anymore, and I enjoyed the last rays of sunshine. I was having a blast of a time so far. These people weren't that bad, and they did have a good sense of humour. But as the sun started setting Francis stretched out, and Gilbert stomach started protesting so loudly that every one of the campus probably heard it. 'Hey guys, dinner will be soon. Let's go to the common room.' Francis and Antonio agreed, and I decided that I didn't want to sit alone just yet. So I followed. The thing that had happened at the garden wasn't nagging me anymore. I'd almost completely forgotten about it.

'Man why does school have to begin tomorrow?' Gilbert had a look of regret on his face. Francis smiled, apparently the first years had a day longer off. Tomorrow we would have some sort of introduction day with our new classmates. And oddly enough, I was starting to look forward to it. Maybe things could be positive for once! I couldn't get a grin of my face. We took our seats for dinner and as we sat there I didn't worry about anything. I felt so happy that I didn't even keep up my guarded attitude. I replied to questions without thinking. It was a dangerous thing to do. But everything seemed to be going just fine. I was talking with Antonio about my bass guitar when Gilbert suddenly stood up. Evil excitement showed in his eyes. 'It's the young master! I've been looking for him all day!'

He turned to us with a super serious expression. 'I'll be right back, fancy-pants has probably missed me.' He stood up and made his way towards someone who'd just entered the common room. I watched with interest as he ran towards a young man with brown hair and glasses. He was lifting up a big box, it looked heavy. He was walking with a speed that was so incredibly slow I almost didn't believe what I was seeing. 'Who's Gilbert talking to?' 'Oh that's a classmate of us. His name is Roderich Edelstein. He's super uptight, and Gilbert and he are…' Antonio seemed to be searching for the right words. Francis and I both looked with interest as the boy named Roderich started looking annoyed. 'Let's just say they aren't always best friends.' Antonio finally decided.

Apparently both Antonio and Francis had a short attention spam, as they returned to eating soon enough. I decided to relocate my focus too. It was rude to watch people, whatever Gilbert and this boy named Roderich were talking about, it was none of my business. 'So Arthur, what's your favourite animal?' I was deep in thought and I almost didn't notice someone else answering for me: 'My little brother loves unicorns.' And for I second I just sat there frozen. Allistor had been talking loud enough for different people to hear it. Slowly I turned around to face him. And there was probably a look of betrayal on my face. He simply grinned, he ignored me and was focused on my possible future friends instead. Antonio looked up surprised and laughed. 'Aww that's adorable!' He stated in between laugh fits.

Francis started smirking. 'Unicorns Arthur? Well, the world never runs out of surprises it seems.' The people who had heard my brother at the other tables were laughing. And I took a deep breath. I told myself to stay calm. All euphoria of before was disappearing out my system pretty fast. 'Allistor, what are you doing?' I sounded calm, yet very angry. Allistor laughed. 'You don't need to feel embarrassed. It's okay if you like fairies. Nobody is going to judge you.' And maybe it was my imagination but I swear I could hear people laugh.

Were they talking about me? Did they think I was pathetic? Crazy? I'd been called so many things through my youth that all the terms had all turned into one big ball of shit. Slowly I stood up. If I stayed Allistor would only make things worse. If I left now I could make sure the damage wasn't permanent. 'Allistor, I don't know what you're trying to do here. But I'm leaving.' I stated, trying to look as relaxed as possible. Remember what I said about trusting people? Yeah, never trust anyone. Not your friends, not your family not even your bloody self. Because this is what happens. Slowly I made my way towards the door. But I stopped walking when I heard someone say: 'What a faggot.' Maybe I also imagined that. Maybe that person had been talking about someone else. Maybe the person didn't even mean it offensive.

What I do know is that I stopped walking and turned around. But instead of finding the person guilty, someone walked straight into me. Our head clashed together, and the force pulled me down. It was a boy my age, with blue eyes, chubby features, blond hair and big geeky glasses. He was wearing a Superman t-shirt. And he looked at me surprised. 'Are you okay dude?' He asked, panic filling his eyes as he pulled me up. Our little accident had caught the attention of some people. They looked at us surprised. Some asked us if we were okay. Antonio and Francis were holding their laughing. My so-called friends were laughing because of my stupidity. Anger boiled through me, made my mind go blurry. Put a stop to logical thinking.

This always happened. I was never allowed a good start. A fresh beginning. There was always something or someone who would ruin it. And it always ended with me sitting alone, envying people who did possess friends. But the lucky bastard that I was, James had always been at my side. Smiling well trying to give the situation a positive twist. But James isn't here, I realized. And as I stood up I gave the innocent boy before me my most hateful look as I said: 'Fuck off you bloody git. Watch where you're going!' He looked at me surprised. His expression went from confused, to sad and decided to stand still at angry. I didn't blame him. I really didn't. 'Oh excuse me. Well at least you didn't get hurt. Those eyebrows must have broken your fall.' And it became quiet, so very quiet.

Gilbert had returned and started laughing when he heard the boy's words. 'Calm down both of you. It was just a little accident right? I you would follow me Mister Eyebrows towards our table-' He tried to touch my shoulder, and I quickly backed off. 'Don't. Touch. Me.' I hissed under my breath. My pride was building up a shield around me to protect me. I looked at the blond boy. He looked guilty, but I didn't realize it. My mind was one swirling pool. I heard a window shatter across the room and everyone got distracted. I took my chance and I ran, nobody noticed. They were all too shocked by the sudden event. I made my way towards the garden, and I felt dizzy again. I hated all of them, Francis, Antonio, Gilbert, Allistor and of course the blond boy. Whatever the hell his name was.

I hated them. And as I sat under the biggest tree, I could hear the fountain. I could hear the birds sing their songs. And although I didn't realize it at the time. The boy wearing the superman t-shirt had of course been Alfred Jones. And as I decided that I hated him, I didn't know that he would become my closest and most loyal friend. I was eleven, what did you expect from me? I couldn't always act rational. But let's you take a little look into the future. As it was many years later, and I had reached the age of seventeen. I was sitting under the same tree, in the same position. But years had changed my attitude. The years had changed my looks, and childish worries had been replaced by far more serious ones.

When I opened my eyes I was welcomed by a bright and happy face. It was upside down though, but I could easily guess to which person it belonged. Tanned skin from the summer sun, stupid jacket and a big grin. The blue eyes of the person looked at me with excitement from behind a pair of glasses. The girls called him Golden boy because of his hair. And I called him stupid moron because of the many brain cells he lacked. 'Alfred?' I asked slowly, still feeling sleep pull at my senses. It was then I slowly realized that he was intruding my personal space. And suddenly my foggy brain woke up immediately. 'What the hell!?' Startled I jumped up. 'Finally you're awake. You know how long I've been waiting?' I pushed him away and started hissing. 'What do you think you're doing? You can't just disturb people like that!' He sat down beside me. The stupid grin made place for a genuine smile. 'It's good to see you too Artie.'

I lay down again. 'Yeah sure, good afternoon to you too Alfred.' He grabbed some grass and threw it in my face. I simply huffed and threw it back. 'Very mature Al. Very mature.' We continued our stupid game of grass confetti until he suddenly spoke up. 'I arrived yesterday night. They told me you were hiding in the library.' Shit, they'd told him? He gave me that look that told me I couldn't lie. 'Yeah I was. But I needed to clear my mind.' He hummed, to tell me he was still listening. 'Yeah I'd figured something out. Are you upset because of Ivan?' I sat up slowly. 'Not really, I've come to terms with it.' He looked away, an evil grin formed on his face. 'Keep telling yourself that dude. If it makes you happy.'

Alfred had changed just as much through the years. He looked more mature, the chubby features were almost completely gone, but he was still wearing shirts with superhero logos on them. I smacked his shoulder. 'Please, I'd forgotten how irritating you are.' He stood up with excitement. 'I would love to tell you everything about my vacation, but I have something more important to ask you right now.' He stated, his face got so serious that it startled me for a second. 'Why do I get the feeling that it's going to be something stupid?' I asked slowly, trying to see if I'd caught him. But he quickly shook his head. 'No dude! I would never lie to you!' He scratched his arm at that statement. 'You're lying. Everyone lies, I don't even have to watch your body languages to figure that out.'

I rubbed the last bits of sleep from my eyes. Something in Alfred's body languages changed at that statement. He got tense, his eyes cautious and his fingers moved nervously. It was then I noticed the scratches that decorated his face. 'Are you okay Al?' I stood up, I tried not to look too worried. But it was difficult. Alfred laughed awkwardly and looked away. He started scratching his arms again. 'Of course I'm good. Never been better in fact!' He looked tense, like he was concentrating. Something about the way he walked back and forth was odd. He was lying to me, and despite that I was worried, I decided to leave the questioning to another day.

'If you say so. Well what was the very important matter that you wanted to discuss?' He looked around nervous, afraid someone might catch our conversation. 'It's Lien.' For a second that name didn't ring a bell at all. But soon enough a smile crept up my face. 'You mean Lien Chung? The Vietnamese girl?' Quickly he lay a finger on his mouth to indicate that I should speak softer. For everyone who doesn't know: Lien Chung is one of Alfred's many exes. But she was probably his most recent one, as he acted very nervous and jumped at any sound. 'It's super serious dude. We broke up last year right? Well we've been talking a bit over Skype and stuff. And I thought she just wanted to be friends. But suddenly she asked me to the Summer Festival. And now I don't know what to do!'

I couldn't hide my disbelief. 'So the girl who kicked your ass at martial arts classes has forgiven you? Are you sure that she didn't leave permanent brain damage?' I'd never seen him so horrified before. And trust me when I say that I've been forced to watch many horror films with him. And 99% of the time Alfred watched those, he would start screaming like a girl. 'I don't want to go with her. How am I going to say no?' I removed grass from my hair as I started walking. He followed me like a lost puppy. 'Well don't cry Al. This year the girls must ask the boys. So there will be enough girls that will ask you. There is a reason that they stalk you.' His face started looking even more displeased. 'I don't wanna go with a date. They're always so clingy. Can't I just say no?'

I started looking around for familiar faces. But apparently all our friends had decided to play hide and seek. 'Sure you can. But then she'll probably kill you. You shouldn't have talked with her in the first place if you didn't have any interest in her. You gave her the wrong idea.' Okay listen, Alfred is a very nice lad. He is probably my best mate. But nobody can tell you with a straight face that Alfred is master of romance and love. Even saying that sentence out loud made me laugh. Alfred master of romance and love. Only in a different dimension something like that would happen.

Alfred is popular, and all the girls are in love with him. So he has had a lot of girlfriends. It started during our third year with Emily, Olivia and Sophia. Emily and he were together for two weeks, before he stated that relationships were boring and he broke up with her. Olivia got accidently cheated on with Sophia. Yes you heard it, accidently. (Apparently Alfred didn't understand the definition of cheating.)

And Sophia was apparently boring. After that it calmed down a bit. But then puberty really hit him. And sure he had admirers before. But suddenly the entire school was stalking him. There was Thea who listened to heavy metal. There was Rosa, who gave him his first kiss. There was Helena who hardly spoke English, but was the best gamer in the entire school. There were the twins Veronica and Victoria. (He only discovered they were not the same person after they both broke up with him.)

And did I forget to mention Vicky, Francine, Becky, Katy, Emily again, Sarah, Sara without the h at the end, Rebecca, Mary, Lisa, Ashley, Isabella and Jenny? I don't think I've mentioned them all yet, but you get the point right? Now you must be wondering how I'm so well informed about Alfred's love life. Well for mysterious reasons I managed to be caught up in the middle of it all. Despite not having any desire for being a part of a love drama. I don't know but it would just happen. One moment I would be reading a book, and the next moment Alfred would be complaining about girls to me. And for reasons unknown to me, he always went to me for advice. My generosity in giving advice had however backlashed enough times.

One time I even got slapped in the face by an ex of his. Because apparently it was my bad influence that had made Alfred break up with her. Which was of course very stupid and not true, but Alfred thought it was hilarious. Over the years things had (thank the heavens) calmed down. Maybe because the girls finally understood that Alfred was oblivious to the true definition of love. Maybe Alfred had finally realized that his cult of followers were creepy. But I doubted it.

The problem with Alfred is, is that if someone says to him: Hey I really like you! Wanna date? He will say: Sure I like you too! Want to catch a movie? But what he means with it is: You're a nice person! I don't mind hanging out with you. I love making new friends! Spot the mistake? So yeah, every time a girl would try to get "romantic" with him (holding hands, kissing, staring at the setting sun or whatever) he would think she was weird. He would often come to me and say: 'I don't get her. She wants to do all this weird stuff with me. And she keeps clinging to my arm. And gives me weird nicknames, and I don't get it. Can't we just hang out?' And I would have to explain to him that being someone's boyfriend means doing relationship stuff. And he would always look sour when I used the word relationship. So in the end he decided to be more careful around girls.

And sure there had still been a few. There was Diana, Dakota, Nicole and the infamous Lien Chung. Lien Chung was a special case of awkward. Lien was searching for a serious relationship, and the only thing that Alfred liked about her was the fact that he couldn't make her smile. So he saw it as his mission to make her laugh. And in the beginning their relationship worked well enough. Alfred did all the stuff he had to do. They went to parties together, they held hands, and he would kiss her cheek as way of saying goodbye. Everyone thought it was cute. But one day he came to my room, and admitted that he didn´t feel anything for her.

And sometimes I wonder if he has ever been in love with someone to begin with. Alfred really looked torn now. 'I wanna go to the festival, but I don't wanna go with a date. Is there not any way I can…' Suddenly he looked up excited. It surprised me a bit, but my surprise was quickly replaced by cautiousness. 'I recognize that look. What are you planning Jones?' He started jumping around, and I couldn't help but to look amused. He was jumping really high, he reminded me of a kangaroo. 'Dude lets go together!' My smile disappeared as melting snow in the summer sun. 'No way in hell.' He gave me his best puppy eyes. 'You're my only hope Artie! Please?' Alfred's infamous puppy eyes are like the pits of Hell. If he kept looking like that I was going to give in. 'A lot of friends go together. It's not weird, I promise! I'll even drag you back to your room if you get too wasted, that's were bros are for!'

I let out a sight in defeat. 'All right, but I swear if you try to dance with me.' He cheered in victory and started breaking my back well hugging me. 'Thank you thank you thank you! I promise I'll be the best bro someone can wish for. I'll even be your wingman if you need one!' I pushed him away with some trouble. 'Whatever, just don't annoy me anymore. Go do something productive, like help me search for Kiku.' We walked past the hills, I looked them over quickly. And although I did recognize people, none of them were really people I spoke with much.

'I saw Kiku this morning. Toris and I are roommates, and Kiku is our neighbour. He was looking for you too.' Alfred informed me as we quickly greeted the Beilschmidt brothers, who were apparently on friend search themselves. 'When is the Festival anyway? I didn't really get a memo.' I stated as we made our way inside the main building. Alfred looked up, I had disturbed him from his thoughts. 'Well Francis said it is tomorrow night.' I slowly shook my head. 'The day that everyone has returned? What a cruel thing to do. Everyone will be running around like a beheaded chicken. Desperately searching for a date.' I huffed, I wondered if the school did that on purpose or not. Knowing the nature of the school committee it, it probably was done on purpose.

'Arthur.' I turned around quickly. Kiku was making his way towards us. He was followed by Francis and Antonio. 'There you are Kiku, I've been looking for you everywhere.' Alfred already introduced you to Kiku Honda. But let me tell you something about the fellow. Alfred may be my closest friend. But Kiku is my absolute best friend. Without Kiku, first year would have been an absolute disaster. He was my first real friend here. And I cherished every memory I had with him. 'What a pleasant surprise to see that Alfred has found you. I heard that Ivan startled you quite a bit. Is everything okay?' From the outside I was smiling and saying that everything was fine. But from the inside I was annoyed. This was really going to haunt me for the rest of my days wasn't it?

I felt my heart race faster, as I realized that from all the secrets I had. I could at least trust one person with them. I hoped that Kiku and I had the time for a private conversation soon enough. As I would enlighten him about the current situation regarding one my most guarded secrets. But for now Kiku and I would have to do with light conversation. Which I also didn't mind. As I talked with Kiku, Antonio decided to squeeze all of us in the meantime with a hug that felt like it was going to break my spine. But when Alfred started talking about some new game that was finally out Kiku's attention shifted. But I didn't mind, we would have enough time to talk later. Sadly I immediately got approached by Francis.

'Arthur my dear friend! Did you miss me?' He started kissing my cheeks and pulled me into a tight hug. Why did the French have to be so touchy with everyone? 'It's only been a day if I'm correct. So please stop pretending like this is the first time you're seeing me in months.' He laughed as he gripped his heart. 'Why must you always hurt my feelings? Can't I just be happy to reunite with an old friend after all these years?'

As we made our way towards the Common Room, I couldn't help but to feel normal. And as I indulged in that feeling, it became easier to ignore the fairies that I saw from the corner of my eyes. Normal Arthur. You've been that for many years now, you know how to play that role. Just another two years, and you're free. I told myself. But of course things weren't easy like that. Otherwise this wouldn't be story worth mentioning, now wouldn't it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Rises like a phoenix and continues to fall flat on face. Hey guys! So let's go over some important things:
> 
> First off: School has started again. And I was super busy, sorry that it took so long to update!
> 
> I don't like posting chapters unless I feel like it's done. This chapter took a bit longer than the previous ones. I've never gotten so far with a story. So that was scary!
> 
> I want to thank my sort-off Beta reader! He's an Irish pen pal who loves the superhero genre, and has been helping me improve this stories quality immensely!
> 
> This chapter was tricky because I just want to tell so much with Arthur. The old version was 17 pages in my documents. It just had way too much information. So I've been cutting a lot in it, and I'm quite satisfied with how it turned out!
> 
> Lien Chung = Vietnam. Other people mentioned in this chapter weren't too important. Except for lovely James. ;)
> 
> I could totally imagine Alfred having a lot of girlfriends, and the image of him and Lien dating is just hilarious. Definitely when she is a scary ex.
> 
> USUK it is! There also some other ships I've been thinking about. BUT I WON'T PROMISE ANYTHING. Now you probably wonder: Is Arthur/Alfred gay/bisexual/hetero etc.? You'll find out sooner or later. ;)
> 
> I can't say when the next chapter will be finished maybe next week, maybe at the end of February. I just hope you have patient with me! Because I don't want to give you horrible crap. That wouldn't make any one of us happy… Also the Bad Friends have united! I love those guys so much. :D
> 
> So yeah: Thank you all! You're all so kind, and those reviews mean a lot to me. I didn't expect ANYONE to actually have interest in this baby. So it makes me very happy to know people are interested. And it motivates me so much! I actually have the plot in my head. But translating brain waves on paper will take some time. :)
> 
> So if you (dis)liked this chapter, please tell me why. What can I improve? What's good as it is? Is my English correct or did I make mistakes? Let me know down below~
> 
> And you know what they say in Dutch: Tot de volgende keer! (Until next time.)


	7. Chapter 6 - Matthew: At The Drop Of A Hat

_For I’m the one who sees through you,_  
 _Of that there is no doubt,_ ~ The Invisible Half, Part II

The day had gone from good to awful quite quickly. And it was completely my own fault. Because as I was sitting in the garden, I started thinking. I started thinking too much. I realized that there were a few things that defined my childhood. The first thing was my love for hockey. This made it easier for me to socialize.  
Second, was the fact that I got held back a year. Out of the blue, Alfred and I were in the same class. And the most important thing was the divorce of our parents. But it wasn’t earth shattering. Mom and dad divorced in silence. There was no screaming, there was no fight about who would take me and my brother. It was all done quickly, and they reassured us that we would still be a family. So at the age of six dad took Alfred, and I moved with mom to Canada.

Over the next few years I rarely spoke to Alfred. And I only saw dad a few times. Oddly enough I didn’t really struggle with it. Sure sometimes it was difficult. But most of the time I told myself that if the others were happy, I would be happy too. And as dad was touring the States with his band, and mom finally started dating again, I told myself that everything was going to be fine. This didn’t stop me from feeling bad though. My favourite time of the year was Christmas. As everyone would gather together and simply talk. Dad’s side of the family was enormous. They came from everywhere, from Hawaii to Alaska and everything in between. Mom’s side of the family was smaller, and all resided in the same area in the French speaking part of Canada. But they were nice people nevertheless. And I loved mocking Alfred with the fact that I could speak French with them and he couldn’t. I told myself that life was good. I had nothing to complain about.

The last thing that defined my childhood was also the one thing that changed everything. It was Christmas like any other year, I was eleven and Alfred ten. We celebrated Christmas at our house that year. And as we all sat there together at the dinner table, dad walked in holding a plate with drinks. He’d always been an energetic guy. And he’d been grinning the entire night. I’d always been very observing and when I noticed his face getting paler, I started to worry. He looked like he was in pain.  
But I didn’t say anything. The world seemed to fall into slow-motion as I saw him grab to his chest as he lost balance. Soon enough he collapsed on the floor. The emergency number was called, and I just stood there, I was in shock. When the ambulance arrived they dragged him to the hospital. And in those never ending hours I thought that he was going to die.  
But he didn’t.

The doctors explained to us that dad had experienced a heart attack. But they’d managed to save him. I felt relieved, knowing that a man like my father couldn’t be taken down by thing like this. And soon enough we all thought he was going to be fine. Just imagine the shock we all went through when we heart he’d died after another heart attack.  
We all isolated ourselves. Alfred went quiet and mom often stared mindlessly out of the window. I can’t describe the pain to you, the pain of losing someone who forms such a big part of your life. But I had to be strong. I had to be strong for Alfred, for mom. So I stood straight, and started bottling everything I felt up. Because I hadn’t any right to complain, I had hardly known the man. It was Alfred who truly needed help moving on. When he stopped eating all together mom send him to a therapist. And I too did everything I could to help him. And it worked, because at some point he started eating again. He started making jokes, and slowly the smile returned on his face.

Moving on was hard for all of us, but it was the most changeling for Alfred. So when I one day asked him about the old times he stared blankly at me, and it surprised me. He admitted that he couldn’t remember. He’d put all those memories away and instead created a perfect image of our dad. The father he believed to be the most righteous person in existence. But instead of telling mom, I kept quiet. I never tried to change his mind. I didn’t want to. He’d finally managed to accept it all. So who was I to ruin his happiness?  
I could also clearly remember how mom and I visited Alfred and Uncle Davie one day. And how they suddenly announced that we would leave home to go to boarding school. Those times had been confusing, chaotic even. But through all of it I had mastered the suppression of my feelings. Yet it often happened that if I was thinking too much, all those feelings got free. And it often leads to a break-down.

‘Why are you kicking the grass?’ It was a female voice that spoke up. Quickly I looked up. Standing there with a football was a familiar face. The tall girl had a straight nose, glaring eyes and frowning eyebrows. She didn’t look cute, nor did she look very friendly. ‘Oh, hey Tess, you know… just… kicking…’ Slowly she raised her eyebrows, she didn’t look very convinced.  
‘Just kicking the grass?’ Tessa repeated my words. I nodded. I suddenly felt like an idiot. But her eyes were filled with concerns. ‘What did the grass ever do to you? Did you trip over it again?’ The Dutch girl slowly made her way towards me, and I immediately noticed that she’d gotten taller. I snorted. ‘Funny, but no I was just thinking about… things…’

I’d been thinking about everything, about dad’s dead, the fact that I had officially become a freak. And the worst of all, yet the least important thing: The fact that I didn’t need special powers to be invisible. Today had just been proof of that. Oddly enough she didn’t need more explanation. She just understood. ‘I see, well can I give you one advice then?’ She handed me the ball. ‘You will get your shoes dirty by kicking dirt. So use this, knock yourself out.’ So here I was, kicking an old, inflated football, while in the meantime cursing all the anger out of my system. Tessa was sitting on the bench, smoking a cigarette. ‘I thought you quit?’ A grimace formed on her lips. ‘I have. So when Emma asks, you didn’t see anything right?’ Tessa’s sister Emma, the personification of everything cute and girly. Who had forced her older sister to stop her bad habits was of course being lied to. Nothing unusual there.

‘Why are you here anyway?’ I finally stopped, trying to catch my breath. She stood up, stretching as she blew out smoke like a dragon. ‘I couldn’t find you anywhere, so I decided to find you. I thought you might’ve wanted to play a little match.’ My face was slowly getting red, I could feel it. ‘Well, I just thought that some alone time would be good.’ I murmured. She looked amused but just kept standing there. ‘So are you feeling better?’ I thought about that for a little while. I did feel relieved. Like something heavy had lifted from my shoulders. I smiled and kicked the ball in her direction. ‘I do, so what did you say about a match?’ She started grinning. ‘Ah yes I did mention that didn’t I?’ Soon enough we were running around. And if you’re curious who won: I lost. I lost spectacularly I may add. I’d forgotten how good she was.

We were sitting on the ground, and as I was trying to catch my breath, Tessa told my about her time back home. ‘I thought you liked going back?’ I stated, frowning at the sky. It was probably going to be stormy tonight again. ‘I do, I love Haarlem. But we also visit Antwerpen. And you know how I feel about… you know.’ She looked so uncomfortable when trying to deal with her emotions. And we looked alike in that matter. She too bottled everything up, but the difference could be found in the way we acted. Because she had managed to build up walls around her, to secure her safety, a dam she often called it. A very Dutch way to look at it, but it was true. Apparently she started feeling uncomfortable as she quickly switched the subject: ‘Just out of curiosity: What happened that made you snap?’ My face slowly got red as I remembered what had triggered my enormous self-destructive response.

I wanted to tell her everything. Everything that had happened, all the things that had formed me into the person I was. Those words we’re all kept back. But as she stared at me intensely I felt as if she could read my mind. Maybe she is a mind-reader. At least Alfred and I won’t be the only ones at the Academy. I laughed at the idea and she noticed my amused look.  
‘Why are you laughing?’ Her face stayed extremely serious, and for odd reasons I thought it was hilarious. And soon enough I broke out in a fit of laughter. She stared at me uncomfortable. ‘Am I missing the punch-line to a joke or are you just crazy?’ Quickly I forced myself to calm down. ‘Sorry it’s just that everything is a mess.’ She shrugged her shoulders. ‘Aren’t things always?’

There was one thing that I could tell her. ‘You remember Irina?’ She looked up with shocked eyes. I’d forgotten that her eyes weren’t actually green. In the right light you could see that they were actually light brown. ‘Your crush since the beginning of times? Of course I remember here! What happened?’ Suddenly she looked excited.  
The last couple of years she had tried to set me up with girls, but it was all in vain. Because I was still heartbroken about Irina Chernenko. The sweetest girl on campus, who just happened to have… enormous… breasts. And this caused many to ignore her personality and just focus on… her front. (I feel so uncomfortable, I can only imagine her brother walking in on me right now.)  
I’d never really given her looks much thought. I’d been madly in love with her since our first year. As she’d always been nice to me and generally very kind of nature. But when I expressed my undying love for her she thought I wasn’t interest in her as a person, but was simply goggling her.

Which was of course not true, but guess what? The nice guy doesn’t get the girl. Because sure thing, she started dating a douchebag. (Maybe I’m living in a TV drama, I wouldn’t be surprised at this point.) I’d given up on her many years ago, yet she still managed to mess me up. ‘Well I told myself that since she’s been single for the last year that maybe, I finally stand a chance with her. So I asked her to the Festival.’ Sometimes I forgot Tessa was a girl. As her eyes got big and she started smiling. (Something she rarely does.) ‘I’m so proud of you! You finally did it!’ Suddenly her smiled disappeared as she realized something. ‘You we’re a depressed mess when I got here. Did she say no? What happened?’ When she saw my dark expression she leaned back. I let out a deep sight as tried to look like I didn’t care.

‘She first thought I was Alfred. So she said no, and when I explained I was Matthew she apologized and told me that she and her ex were rethinking their relationship or something.’ Tessa looked like she was ready to strangle someone. ‘So after that, I decided to just go with some friends. But before I even got the chance to get over my complete failure with Irina, I got approached by girls.’ Tessa’s eyes lightened up with curiosity. ‘Who?’ She asked, rolling the football in between her hands. ‘First there was Audrey from gym classes. She mistook me for Alfred. Then there was Margot from the Canadian Club, Katy from the Student Council and Leah from the Garden Club. And some others I can’t remember…’ Tessa slowly shook her head,

She was never one to give away pity, but this time she did. And I didn’t like it. ‘They all mistook you for your brother didn’t they?’ It had happened many times over the years, definitely when my hair was still shorter and we had glasses that looked alike. They would often switch us up. Some even mistook us for twins, we obviously weren’t but apparently we looked more alike than we would admit. The fact that they all forgot about my existence kinda hurt, but what really did it for me was that they usually weren’t that sorry. ‘No wonder you’re upset.’ Tessa pushed the ball away, and slowly it rolled over the grass. ‘I’m not upset, I’m fine really.’

She gave me a unamused look. ‘Of course you are, and I quit smoking.’ As if to make a point she searched for her lighter. ‘No need to be sarcastic.’ She shrugged as she tried to get her lighter to work. ‘Says the person who acts passive aggressive to his brother.’ Suddenly music was filling the silence. Tessa quickly grabbed her mobile phone. I couldn’t help but smile slyly as I heard a Dutch children song. ‘Why did you give Emma that song again?’ I asked, hiding my smile behind my hand. She rolled her eyes as she stared at the screen. ‘She loved this song growing up, so shut up.’ With these words she picked up the phone. She and her sister stared talking in their own languages.

Tessa’s face went from mildly interested to suddenly very annoyed. She quickly said something and she said goodbye. She dropped her phone in annoyance. ‘Seemed like you and Emma had a great conversation again. What happened?’ She stood up and grabbed the ball and started walking away. ‘Hey wait up! What did she say?’ She ignored me and stared calling someone.  
This time she talked English. ‘Hey, I was wondering if you know where Antonio is?’ Although she sounded very calm, something in her eyes looked sinister. When she dropped Antonio’s name I understood what was going on. Whenever Antonio even breathed Tessa would get angry at him. They weren’t on the best terms, but it had been worse in the past.

But since he often hang out with Emma, Tessa completely went into mama bear mode. Despite that I was taller, Tessa was a fast walker. And as I tried to keep up with her there were many things that I wanted to say, but I kept it all back. As we reached the school I had to take a little sprint to keep up. She quickly walked through the maze of hallways, knowing precisely where she needed to go. ‘Wait up! You’re going to-’ When I turned the next corner she was gone. I started running, hoping to find her. But she was nowhere in sight. Slowly my hands dragged over my face as I groaned. ‘I can’t believe I lost her!’ I quickly turned the next corner in the hope to see her. Instead there were two people decorating. It was obviously for tonight’s festival. The girl looked pretty normal. She had a strong build, dark skin and her hair was pulled back in a ponytail. The boy next to her was also dark skinned, and he his hair was trimmed neatly. If I remembered correctly they were last year students.

At first I just wanted to keep searching for Tessa, but suddenly I noticed something odd. The way the girl was however decorating shocked me. She moved her hands along a group of balloons. Giving them a different colour every time she touched them. They went from green, to pink, and in the end she settled for gold and blue. She clapped her hands, and instantly all decorations turned the same colour. The boy didn’t even look up. At this point my mouth was hanging open. I completely forgot about Tessa. How did she do that? Apparently they had finally noticed my presence as the girl smiled and waved at me. ‘Hey there, can I help you?’ I slowly walked closer, afraid and for good reasons. ‘H-how did you…?’ I gestured at the balloons. Maybe I was just seeing things. Maybe I’d finally gone mental. A little voice whispered in the back of my mind, the one that was always afraid.

The girl’s friendly smile faded a bit. And the boy suddenly stood beside her. Both looked at me cautious. ‘Are you here to help with the decorations?’ The boy asked, his dark eyes tried to figure me out. And sudden I wished I could just disappear right there. I shook my head, I kept staring at the balloons. ‘You… you just changed the colours…’  
And for I second I thought she would either all deny it, or call me crazy. Because the questions ran through my head in a manner that was definitely not healthy. The boy and the girl looked at each other in silence. And for a second I was afraid they would get rid of me. Maybe this was a secret, something I wasn’t allowed to see. But instead of pulling a knife, or suddenly tackling me to the ground, she gave me a friendly smile.

‘Don’t worry about it. You know what you saw. Just don’t think about it too much and you’ll be fine.’ The boy nodded too and added: ‘Sorry if we startled you. But it’s all going to be fine.’ After that they both said some other odd things. Things I didn’t understand, and in the end the boy put his hand on my head, and the next moment I just stood there confused.  
‘Het what’s up Mattie-nator?’ An arm was slung around my shoulder. Alfred stood beside me, ‘I’ve been looking for you everywhere dude. I couldn’t find you. What are you doing here?’ There were so many things I tried to say, but in the end the only words to leave me were short. ‘I was looking for Tessa.’ It seemed like a logical answer. It was the correct answer right? Alfred was talking, but I was completely spacing out. I looked around confused. What was I doing here? Am I forgetting something important?

And suddenly my head snapped, and my eyes focused on the balloons. ‘Alfred there is something important…’ I got pulled out of my thought process by a quiet cough. We both turned around, Lien was standing there. Her amber eyes big, her fingers nervously playing with her black ponytail. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t mean to bother you. I’ll just talk to you later.’ She tried to walk away but Alfred quickly made his way towards her. ‘No no, it doesn’t matter. What’s up?’ He gave her one of his dashing smiles, and her entire face slowly turned red. ‘I’ve been looking for you Alfred.’ She admitted. Alfred simply looked at her with a dumb expression, and for a second I wished I could just hit him in the face. They’d also apparently forgotten I was there. As she was suddenly confessing her undying love for him or whatever. It was then that I realized I’d turned invisible because of my sudden stress. Alfred listened to her with mild interest, his concentration was not the best, and I was surprised to see how concentrated he looked. Like he really wanted to understand was she was trying to get across. ‘So would you like to go with me tonight?’ She finally said, her voice high with anticipation and fear.

From my experiences Lien was a very nice girl, she was very calm and prideful. Yet she’d managed to get swooned by someone like Alfred. Someone who couldn’t ever understand that Maple flower wasn’t a real flower. I wondered how blunt Alfred was going to be about it this time… ‘I’m sorry Lien. I really am, but I don’t think we should retry this. Even if I wanted to, I can’t go with you to the Festival.’ She looked up, her strong and collective behaviour had suddenly returned. And she looked intimidating, despite being small. Alfred scratched his arms, he opened his mouth to say something. But then closed it and dropped his arms. ‘I’m already going with someone else.’ I wasn’t very surprised by that. It was logical for him to quickly say yes to someone, as to avoid others girls harassing him all day.

‘I understand. But with who are you going then?’ She looked down in defeat, but was obviously trying to keep the conversation going. Alfred entire face lit up, and it surprised me a bit. I’d never seen him so happy before. And I wondered what type of girl made him look like that. ‘I’m going with Arthur!’ Lien dropped her bag, and I almost tripped. ‘I’m sorry I think I heard you wrong, did you just say Ariana?’ Alfred shook his head. ‘No I mean Arthur. You know Arthur Kirkland? So I’m sorry, but I really can’t go with you. I already made a promise.’ She looked like thunder had hit her. I didn’t blame her that she wanted to leave the scene as soon as possible. She walked back quickly. Stuttered that she had to get going, and waved him goodbye with shocked eyes as she ran away. Alfred didn’t seem to find it strange.

‘Hey can I ask you something?’ Alfred turned around startled. ‘Shit I forgot you were here, what’s up?’ His eyes drifted around hoping the find the source of my voice. In the end he settled for the window, which was completely wrong. ‘You do know that you gave off the wrong idea, right?’ His big and happy eyes slowly blinked. ‘Don’t be stupid bro, Lien is a smart girl.’ I shook my head, I really wanted him to understand the point. ‘I mean, maybe you should have given her more context. Because by tonight everyone will have the wrong idea, you know…’ I thought he got it. As his eyes got wider with realization. But then he said: ‘Oh you mean like, they’ll think I made it up to avoid her or something?’ The few rays of sunshine that managed to lighten up the hallway made my face warm up. ‘You know what? I don’t care anymore. I’m not going to involve myself in your stupid teenage dramas again. We have more important things to discuss.’

I looked at the balloons again. I knew there was something important I wanted to speak with him about… ‘Bro that’s cool. But I can’t really see you. Calm down a bit.’ I looked up, Alfred was right. I was still… invisible. ‘I’m fine Al, really.’ I couldn’t turn back though, no matter how hard I tried. ‘You’ve been under too much stress lately. You should lie down. Try to forget.’ Those last words really hit a sour spot. He was probably just worried about me. But the last couple of days, it seemed that everyone wanted me to forget. Alfred wanted me to forget the power thing. Tessa wanted me to forget the past too. People forgot me, I forgot things, things I couldn’t remember for some reason. And my head hurt. ‘I can’t do this anymore Al. I wanna go home.’ He suddenly looked so small. Like a small kid who knew he couldn’t do anything.

‘Matthew, we are home.’ When I didn’t react he looked around confused. ‘Are you still here?’ He accidently walked into me. ‘Oops sorry, are you okay?’ He put his hand on what he assumed was my shoulder. (Which it wasn’t. It was my arm.) He quickly pulled it back when it disappeared. ‘Looks like your powers are only getting stronger, we need to find a way to keep them under control.’ His hand appeared again, his voice which was usually loud became softer now. ‘I don’t know what’s going on with you, but you need to promise me to be careful. Don’t do rash things.’ I didn’t say anything, nor did he as we just looked at each other. (Well… he tried.) I wished Alfred would just get angry with me. Tell me to man up and grow some. But instead he seemed to understand my fears. Instead he didn’t blame me from breaking down. I rubbed my eyes with the back of my hand. There were no tears, but it was power of habit that made me do it. ‘I honestly don’t know how we are going to keep this a secret.’ Alfred admitted.

His face was getting paler now. ‘Toris will find out one way or another, and Gilbert isn’t stupid either.’ He started stretching. He looked more tired than I’d first realized. ‘It’s going to be okay. We’ll figure something out Al, we always do.’ Alfred hadn’t needed a big brother figure in his life. He had dad, and the man was all he had ever needed.  
Alfred always pushed me away whenever he felt weak and needed support. He didn’t want me to think of him as my little brother. He didn’t realize that I already had this image of him. ‘Maybe I should tie myself up every night.’ He looked up, he didn’t look pale anymore. All worry, sadness and fear had disappeared. It was weird, I didn’t feel stressed anymore. I actually felt better than usually.

Apparently I’d appeared again, because he laughed at my facial reaction. ‘Don’t do that, Toris will think you’re weird.’ He laughed as he started making up excuses as to why he would do such thing. ‘And then I’ll say that at midnight I turn into a zombie, and that tying myself up will save him!’ I slowly shook my head. ‘Sure, but how are you going to get free in the morning?’ He looked at me surprised. ‘How should I know? Maybe-’ I didn’t hear the rest of his sentence.  
As I could see someone walk up to us. It was already getting late, the sun was standing lower. And the closer the boy came. The more I recognized him. It was a very angry looking Arthur. Alfred however didn’t seem to notice at all. He was caught up completely in his own story.

‘Alfred…’  
‘It would be awesome if Toris would…’  
‘Alfred!’  
‘And then maybe we can do like a test to see if…’  
‘You know what. I’m leaving. It was nice knowing you.’

That finally caught his attention. But I was already leaving. He watched me in confusion. And as I turned at the corner I head Arthur say: ‘ALFRED FUCKING JONES. WHAT THE BLOODY HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?’  
'Oh hey Art.'  
‘WHY DOES THE ENTIRE SCHOOL THINK YOU AND I ARE DATING?’ Some confused words were mumbled. But Arthur decided he wasn’t done yet. ‘WHAT THE DID YOU TELL LIEN. HOW STUPID HOW IGNORANT ARE YOU TO-’ I heard Alfred ask confused questions in between the yelling. And I decided to walk faster. This would probably end in a fight that I didn’t want to be part of…

So, let me tell you something about the Summer Festival. In the beginning it was just a little party to celebrate the beginning of a new school year. But it soon escalated in an enormous event. In the beginning everyone could go. But soon they figured that the Festival would be too "age inappropriate" for underclassmen. I guess they didn’t want to deal with drunken kids in the hospital. Soon enough there was an alcohol policy with so many holes in it that the teachers didn’t even try to check students anymore.

We had all done some pretty dumb stuff before. But there was this one time that I would never forget. Arthur had become so wasted once that he started undressing on the street. You heard that right. Boring, uptight and very responsible Arthur got drunk. I guess everyone has a wild side. We had to quickly take him with us. But he kept screaming that his destiny was to fight the dark unicorns and free the world, or something among those lines…

My friends are weird, get used to it.

Anyway! Over the years the school started cooking up an evil plan in the hope to discourage drinking. The Festival would be held extremely early in the year, in the hope that students wouldn’t be able to even think about arranging their own beverages. Because they would be too focused on dating, clothing and so forth. Sadly the school had forgotten that not everyone was a teenage girl. And the plan had turned out to be a disappointment.  
And thus it became evening. And soon the entire school looked like the perfect party place. And it was a surprisingly nice evening too. The sky wasn’t clouded, and it wasn’t as cold as most of us had expected. Soon enough music was hurting my ear drums, people were smoking. And the few teachers who kept watch seemed to prefer having fun too. Alfred was hitting the dance floor while making friends with everyone.

And I was just kinda standing there, I felt misplaced. ‘Hey Matthew why are you looking so down?’ Gilbert suddenly stood next to me with two beers. I smiled but it didn’t help. ‘I’ve problems loosing up. Even your brother seems to be better at these situations.’ I nodded at Ludwig, who was drinking a beer and screaming as the German football team missed their chance at scoring. (They shouldn’t have brought the television outside.) We had to scream to understand each other. And while Gilbert nodded in understanding, I felt like he hadn’t heard a word of what I’d just said. ‘Alright! Let’s just drink a beer and relax. Tomorrow school starts, and we have to make sure we’re too sick to actually go.’ He grinned as he gave me on of the bottles. I decided to just gulp it up, he was probably right. I just had to loosen up a bit.

Soon enough I actually found Tessa. She was talking with Antonio’s brother. Whom I suspected to be her secret crush. Apparently she had kicked Antonio in the nuts. And the two were obviously keeping distance between them. She bickered shortly with Gilbert before taking his beer challenge. And soon enough they were gone. And I was alone again. I spotted Alfred, he had dragged Arthur to the dance floor. He had apparently not had enough yet, as he looked around awkward. Alfred didn’t seem to mind it all one bit. Some people were really ruling the dance floor. But neither Alfred nor Arthur was one of them. Some I knew by name, others looked like they were youth from the nearby village. They’d probably sneaked in. Elizabeta was screaming angrily at Ludwig, when the German football team finally scored. And Gilbert was laughing, I could already imagine him being hit by Elizabeta. She was known for hitting people with any object she was holding in that moment. It was Roderich who calmed her down.

Soon enough I found Kiku. He was talking with the Italian Vargas brothers. The oldest Lovino, looked very displeased and was constantly being bothered by Francis and Antonio. The younger brother Feliciano was experiencing an enormous shock when it turned out that Kiku wasn’t drinking juice. ‘Kiku we aren’t adults yet! We aren’t allowed to drink yet!’ His big light brown eyes looked horrified and the small Japanese. Kiku looked unfazed. ‘Kiku how old are you anyway?’  
He didn’t answer me, and it disturbed me even more. Toris was talking with Natalya, but when her brother Ivan Braginsky (the scariest Russian you’ll ever, ever meet) decided to show up, Toris had to make a run for it. Irina was talking with her ex, who would probably at the end of the night be her boyfriend again. I let out a sight, I didn’t want to watch those two. It would only make me feel depressed.

I almost tripped over a boy who was sleeping on the ground. I recognized him as the Greek who loved cats, and would often speak words of wisdom. He sure was out. I would run into classmates. And while I had pleasant talks with most, some had been drinking so much that they would often not talk about much in particularly. Examples:

Example number 1: Conversation with Feliks Łukasiewicz

Me: Are you alright?  
Feliks: I can’t believe it!  
Me: What are you talking about?  
Feliks: Jestem nieśmiała zostawiaj mnie!  
Me: I’m sorry Feliks… but I can’t speak Polish…

Example number 2: Conversation with Tino Väinämöinen

Tino: I’m so happy to see you!  
Me: Yeah, it’s good to see you too.  
Tino: I can’t wait for Christmas I’ll be very busy again!  
Me: Really have you gotten a job or something?  
Tino: I do! But it’s a secret… but if you’re good this year I won’t pass your house!  
Me: … I have no idea what you’re talking about.

Example number 3: Conversation with Magnus Densen

Me: Hey so how are you doing?  
Magnus: I NEVER NOTICED YOU HAD THE SAME GLASSES AS HAPPY OTTER.  
Me: It’s good to see you too. How was it back in Denmark?

He continued talking about my magical powers, and for a while his friends and I amused us. But when he started mentioning the invisibility cloak I felt my nerves getting pulled. And I left. When I ran unto a group of girls they all started hugging me. But they either thought I was Alfred, or they just wanted to hug someone. I didn’t like it when people got extremely drunk. I thought it was unnecessary. Sure a little bit drinking for fun, that’s great. But sometimes I got worried about some of my friends. And I decided that this was a good time to check on Alfred. But soon I got distracted when I got pulled into a Conga Line.

The music wasn’t even half that bad. For years the Chinese boy Yao Wang had been the DJ. And he’d been awful. But nowadays a young boy from Hong Kong did the music. And it had become increasingly better. At some point I managed to get swayed into dancing with some girl I hardly knew. And when I finally spotted Alfred again I saw that he was getting in a fight with Ivan again. Mister Vadas immediately noticed and dragged both boys to the side. (This is the reason I’ve got to keep a close eye on him.) Alfred protested loudly, but Arthur simply walked towards me and slowly shook his head. ‘Your brother is stupid.’ He stated, taking another sip from the plastic cup he was holding. I knew he never really meant it. But it was just Arthur opening line. Arthur’s entire face was red, and he looked like he was far away.

As he kept telling the sky to stop tickling him. ‘Ah well, you’re friends with him anyways.’ I amused myself a bit with the idea that most girls probably had the wrong idea about their relationship by now. Arthur let out a deep sight, ‘I wanna play some guitar. But Al is gone so it can’t.’ I looked around. ‘There are probably others who play instruments. I heard Gilbert plays the flute pretty well. And Roderich plays both the violin and the piano.’ Arthur rolled with his eyes as he exclaimed that classical music was boring. I decided not the mention his entire collection of classical music from through the centuries. Let’s go inside it looks like it’s gonna rain.’ The sky was darkening once again. And it was getting colder too. After some pulling I finally managed to drag him inside. He kept talking about his time as a pirate. Which I decided was probably very exciting. Because I didn’t feel like listening. Inside the male common room we found a group of people sitting on the ground while playing a drinking game. Another group was playing spin the bottle, and I decided to drop Arthur with Francis.

‘Don’t worry Mathieu I’ll take good care of our friend!’ Francis stated as he dodged Arthur’s fist. ‘Thank you Francis. Have you seen Alfred by any chance?’ He shook his head, and soon enough I was on a quest of finding my brother. I wanted to make sure he wasn’t in trouble. I ran into Michelle Mancham along the way. The girl came from an African island and she was really nice and cheerful. And she insisted on helping me find Alfred. We had the tendency to threat Michelle as our little sister. And we would probably only stop doing that once she stopped wearing ribbons in her ponytails. ‘Are you sure? He might be in trouble.’ I decided that warning her was fair. But she didn’t seem to mind my warning at all.

‘My friends are playing the drinking game anyway. But since I’m playing water girl I’m bored. So let’s go!’ She waved at her friends. One was a girl was long dark hair, and the other was a tall boy with dark eyes. They looked oddly familiar, but I didn’t pay attention to it. We managed our way through the boy dorms with ease. ‘Where is everyone?’ She shrugged her shoulders as she looked around curiously. ‘Probably at the girl dorms, it’s bigger.’ As we looked around I noticed that Michelle looked a bit pale. ‘Hey are you alright?’ She smiled and waved away my concerns. ‘Sure, just a bit tired.’ We stood still at Alfred’s room. And just when I wanted to knock the door opened. Alfred almost walked over me. ‘Bro there you are!’ He caught me into a tight hug and pulled Michelle into it too. Despite her protest.

‘Al, I’ve been looking for you.’ I managed to pull myself away. ‘Did you get in trouble with Ivan and mister Vadas?’ He laughed as he started walking to the stairs. ‘What? No way! We totally managed to escape. We’re gonna play some poker down stairs. Care to join?’ He held up a deck of cards. I didn’t even know he had those.  
‘Sure. As long as it’s just normal poker I’m in. Michelle do you want to come too?’ She agreed to play and when we returned downstairs Francis was trying to kiss Arthur. ‘No way I’m gonna kiss your ugly face!’ The Englishman protested. Francis let out a sight as people started cheering him on. ‘It’s part of the game! You spun it, so now we have to kiss. Just a little tiny kiss, it’s not going to kill you!’ The two kept bickering while the others cheered them on. ‘Just one tiny kiss, don’t be a game breaker Art!’

It was Elizabeta who was lying on the ground, wriggling her eyebrows at the two fighting Europeans. Ludwig had a relaxed smile on his face. He had obviously had way too much. ‘Rules are the rules. You have to kiss or you are both not allowed any further interaction in this game.’ The German accent only made him sound more like an officer instead of a teenager. Arthur huffed, his entire face slowly got red. ‘I would honestly be fine with kissing anyone here. As long as it isn’t the frog!’ This caught Elizabeta’s interest. ‘Anyone you say? Anyone we suggest?’ Arthur nodded frantically. ‘Name someone I’ll do it.’ I felt like this was the set-up to some very messed up joke.

Gilbert shook his head, he looked very relaxed but evil was written all over his face. ‘It’s not fair that we bend the rules for Arthur. So if we do change them, we have to give him extra punishment.’ Francis wore the same evil expression by now. ‘What do you suggest?’ Michelle, Alfred and I had sat down in silence, and it unnerved me how silent Alfred had become. He was watching the drama develop with interest. Suddenly Elizabeta’s eyes widened. ‘I’ve got it!’ She pointed at Arthur dramatically. ‘You either kiss Alfred or Matthew. And not just small peck on the lips. But a real kiss!’

Slowly my face became red. Sure I was tipsy, but I was definitely not drunk. And there was no way I was ever going to let myself be kissed by Arthur. Not even if he was the last person on earth. Arthur in the meantime was protesting angrily. He was calling her sadistic. Which Elizabeta was in many ways. I looked at Alfred, he too looked uncomfortable. ‘Guys this is all fun and all, but I’m not gonna let myself be kissed.’ I stated. But of course nobody heard. But when Alfred spoke up everyone of course paid attention. ‘Guys I’m not gonna be part of your weird game. I just got here. I brought the cards with me too.’ He held up the deck of cards. People started protesting calling both of us game breakers. Antonio was smiling idly, he was sitting beside Tessa’s sister Emma. ‘Let’s not be mean guys. Matthew and Alfred didn’t ask for this. Let’s be nice, the evening is still young!’

It was Tessa who muttered something under her breath that sounded like a curse word. But it could have also been the Italian Lovino. Who was known for his wide range of curses. After a lot of bickering Arthur agreed to the conditions. ‘Fine whatever, let’s just get this over with.’ He said grumpily. At this point I was just praying that he wouldn’t choose me. Not even in a different dimension was I going to give my first kiss to another guy. And maybe that had been written all over my face, as Arthur quickly kissed Alfred’s cheek. Immediately the group started protesting. ‘That wasn’t a kiss!’ Feliciano stated. He was having way too much fun with this game. Arthur was really starting to get snappy now. ‘Just shut up. Be happy that I did what you asked. Now shut up, I want to play poker.’

He took the cards from Alfred’s hand and started opening the box. Alfred still looked a bit stunned. I bet he’d never been kissed by a guy before. And although I wanted to feel bad for him, I really couldn’t. As he was probably too drunk to care. Arthur was looking at the cards in confusion. ‘Why do you have Tarot cards?’ The cards looked weird. They had all kinds of weird names like: Seven of Swords and Death. The cards had weird pictures on them too. Some looked quite disturbing. Francis whistled low as he took the cards that said The Lovers. ‘I didn’t know you were into freaky stuff like this. It seems like you and Arthur do have something in common.’ Alfred looked at the cards confused. ‘Oops, looks like I took the wrong ones with me. But we can use these anyway, right?’ Arthur shook his head annoyed. ‘You can’t play poker with Tarot cards Al. Where did you get these anyway?’

I was wondering the same thing. In the meantime the cards were handed to everyone. I was holding a card named The Hanged Man. And as the name suggested it showed a man that was hanging from a wooden construction. His foot was hooked into a rope, and he didn’t seem very comfortable. We all had a good laugh when Natalya gave the card The Devil a good look. Antonio happily showed Tessa that they had matching cards. ‘I’ve got The Sun you’ve the Moon. Now we only have to search for the stars and the planets!’  
It was Arthur who told Antonio there was no card called the planets. And after that Antonio remembered that Tessa was very pissed and he left her alone quickly. We all made fun of the fact that Elizabeta and Ivan were married. Elizabeta could see the humour in it all. As she hold up the card called The Empress. ‘Ah well, I’ve always wanted to marry young, and Ivan isn’t bad looking.’ She winked at the Russian who seemed very unmoved by it all.

Arthur was talking about the history of Tarot cards with some other member from the Magic Club. (Basically they read Harry Potter and play Dungeon & Dragons all day.) We’d all forgotten that we were going to play poker. And instead we were making fun of the pictures. Feliciano looked sad when his brother noted that the card The Fool was pretty accurate for his personality. But soon stated with a happy smile that Death was very fitting for Lovino as well. Everyone started laughing and Alfred asked the angry Italian if he wanted some ice for that burn. Feliciano hadn’t even noticed the impact of his words and looked around confused.

Alfred (the superhero lover that he is) of course decided that Justice was the one and only card for him. ‘Because justice conquers all!’ He started posing as Superman while quickly trying to make himself a cape with the help of his sweater. I pulled him down, ‘you mean love Alfred, it’s love conquers all.’ He didn’t seem to care.  
Soon enough the cards weren’t amusing anymore, and instead we were playing truth or dare. If there’s someone listening to this recording, let me give you one advice: Never play a game of truth or dare with drunken people. You think it’s fun? Think again. ‘Alright Kiku, truth or dare?’ Alfred eyes shined in mischief as the Japanese men choose dare. Choosing truth was awful, as they would ask the most embarrassing things.

But picking dare was ten times worse. ‘I dare you too…’ Some people gave suggestions that sounded terrible. ‘Let him hold ice and salt in his hand!’ (Warning that hurts a lot!) Someone else protested that Kiku should eat a spoon with cinnamon (which is super dangerous don’t try this at home). And in the end Alfred settled for something only he could have picked.  
‘I dare you too stuff your mouth with marshmallows!’ Kiku’s face went from calm to horrified when it turned out that the marshmallows were bright pink. But as apparently his honour was on the line, he started stuffing his mouth with the sticky stuff. Something that I realized was actually quite dangerous, what if he choked? My stress level started rising, and when I noticed my fingers disappearing I quickly put them in my pockets.

Soon enough Kiku couldn’t put any more in his mouth, and his entire face became red. Feliciano stared cheering. ‘You’re a hero Kiku!’ Kiku tried to say something, but failed horribly. ‘Dude does someone have a napkin for him or something?’ We all shook ours heads. But then I noticed Miss Kirkland walking outside the building. ‘I’ll be right back, it think I known someone who has one.’ I quickly put down my drink, stuffed the Tarot card in my pocket as I mistook it for my phone, and made my way outside.  
Miss Kirkland was a strict woman, but she was also kind to those who worked hard. And I respected her immensely. But it wouldn’t have surprised me if she was grumpy. ‘Miss Kirkland!’ The English teacher looked up, she had just put out a smoke. ‘How can I help you?’ She was indeed not in the best spirits. ‘Do you have a napkin miss?’ Her face got more irritated with the seconds. ‘Don’t tell me someone has been puking?’

I quickly shook my head and explained Kiku had stuffed his mouth with marshmallows, but she didn’t seem to care much. ‘Here you go. Now go make sure your friend is okay.’ With these words she left to check out the chaos at the girl dorms. For a second I wanted to walk back inside, but instead I found myself standing still. It was raining very softly, thunder was lighting up the sky. Some people had gone outside to check it out. I saw a few of the younger kids leave the forest. They probably didn’t want to get hit by lightning. ‘Hey are you coming inside or not?’ Michelle was apparently sent to search for me. She looked cold in her blue dress. I handed her my sweater, ‘I’m fine but you look cold.’ She took the sweater gratefully. ‘Sorry I got distracted for a bit. Is Kiku still hanging in there?’ She laughed. ‘We’re helping him out, someone found a towel, and he’s now trying to remove them.’

She was quiet for a moment as she looked at the sky. ‘Well with the emphasis on trying. It looks quite ridicules.’ We stood completely still now as Michelle spaced out. ‘Hey, are you alright?’ Her eyes quickly looked around, but I felt like she didn’t really see anything. Her face became pale, and soon enough I realised she was going to black out. Carefully I took her shoulders. ‘Easy there, maybe you should quit for the night, you look-’ she grabbed me at the collar. Her eyes big with fear. Her body was shaking and I couldn’t help but to feel worried. ‘Matthew we need to-’ Someone in the back started pointing at the sky. And my attention was drawn to it automatically.

It looked like a falling star was going across the sky. And any other moment I would have thought that was pretty cool. Wasn’t it that Michelle was crying in the background. It was then that I noticed lightning hitting the object. And it caught fire. Slowly the realization dawned that it wasn’t a falling star. As the flying object split into smaller objects I noticed that the object wasn’t going to ignore us. It was like time decided to go in slow motion again. Michelle’s hand that was draining the blood for my arm. The loud music from the dance floor. The sound of cheering students as they celebrated the last days of summer. It all ended right in that moment as I felt the earth shake, and saw the forest catching fire. It all ended with a bang when I saw a piece of the airplane crash into the girl dorms. I turned around to the boy dorms, in the hope to warn someone, anyone really.

The silence got broken by another explosion. One so loud that my ears hurt. And my body was pulled back by the shock. And right there, in front of my eyes everything just quit existing all together. The roof of the boy dorm collapsed, and I felt a pair of arms pull me back as I started screaming. My mind was only focused on thing and one thing only: My friends. My friends were still in there...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! So here's the new chapter! (Sorry for the long wait, life is chaotic.)
> 
> 1\. Tessa Dijkstra = Nyotalia Netherlands  
> 2\. I really love Neddie, but I've wanted to write him as a girl SINCE FOREVER. I hope she won't disappoint! ;D  
> 3\. Michelle Mancham = Seychelles, I LOVE HER!!  
> 4\. The boy and the girl mentioned are Cameroon and the unnamed African country from the Seychelles strip.  
> 5\. Irina Chernenko = Ukraine and what Feliks is saying in Polish isn't very important.  
> 6\. Emma Dijkstra = Belgium.  
> 7\. Spain's (Antonio's) brother is Portugal.  
> 8\. Yes Finland is Santa. IT'S HIS DESTINY.  
> 9\. Magnus Densen = Denmark ;)  
> 10\. And YES Happy Otter is Harry Potter. But Denmark is just a bit weird. ;)
> 
> So I hope you enjoyed! Shit's finally going down! I've been rewriting this one WAY TOO MUCH. And I just didn't want to wait any longer! BTW I DO HOPE that the characters don't act too OOC. But hey they're humans right? (My lame excuses...) So if you (dis)liked it, leave a comment and tell me how to make this better! I can only improve by receiving structured criticism.
> 
> Have a wonderful day, and as we say in Dutch: Zie je later! (See you later!)


	8. Chapter 7 - Alfred: Turn Down For What?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've been dying to write this chapter. And because I finished it I thought: Why wait any longer?  
> I hope all of you wonderful people enjoy. Please tell me your thoughts down below and have a wonderful day/evening. :)

_Sometimes you gotta run before you can walk._ ~ Iron Man

Let's talk about the situation dude. So remember that Matthew said that he would be back in a minute? Well he just took way too long. So apparently Elizabeta did have a napkin, as she'd just forgotten about it. So when she saved Kiku from suffocation, we told Michelle to bring him back, and she was all like: Oh sure that's cool. In the meantime a lot of people had entered the boy dorms. Most I knew by name.

But since it had become so crowded it became difficult to keep track of everything that was going on. Magnus had given Lovino a shock ball. (He got super pissed when the thing electrocuted his hands.) And he threw it away angrily, it was Kiku who caught it. But he of course had no idea to who it belonged. Feliciano was running for his life, Francis was talking with some girls, and Gilbert and Ludwig were arm wrestling.

And trust me when I say that there was a lot more going on. Like Antonio was getting in a fight with this girl (Theresa? Theodora?) and Feliks got stuck between two doors. Toris was just standing beside him, shaking his head in awe. I actually felt quite relaxed, but the danger in this was that I would lose focus. And I didn't really feel like explaining my new party trick to everyone. So while I tried to keep track of everything that was going on, I also tried to stay focused.

It all went wrong when we heard a loud bang. Everyone just went like: Oh how nice, firework! But I got super startled. Because it sounded like thunder, and that freaks me out remember? I could feel my feet come from the ground slightly. But nobody seemed to notice it, so that was cool. A lot of people had moved towards the windows to watch the firework. They mumbled in confusion as they didn't see anything. It was Arthur and his friends who were standing in the middle of the room.

And when I turned to ask him if he knew anything about the fireworks, the ground started shaking. Normally I would have gotten really scared. But I was occupied with something else. Something much worse. I'd forgotten to put my feet on ground. And now Arthur was staring at me. His eyes got big as he stared at me in shock. He had seen it. He had seen it.

His friends were too occupied with talking to notice. But Arthur did see it. Immediately I forced my feet back on the ground. I really wanted to hit myself for be so easily caught. I quickly made my way towards him. He took a step back. His face was getting paler and paler. I didn't even notice when some people started panicking. I hardly noticed when I heard someone scream. I was only focused on explaining it to Arthur.

I was going to make sure he would either think he was just seeing things, or that I wasn't a threat in any sort of way. In the back of my mind I could already imagine Matthew getting angry at me. It was only when the ceiling came down that I knew something was up.

(Or actually down, since the ceiling was falling…) They say that dangerous situations can make you sober in seconds. I totally believe it now. Fear can make things go like in the movies. So when I saw the cracks in the ceiling, when I heard the sound of panicking people. I didn't even allow myself to breathe. I took a sprint to the people in the middle of the room. And I don't know if you've ever had a ceiling crash on you, but I was pretty sure this was going to be a suicide quest. I pushed the group people down as I started screaming for everyone to take cover.

And when it all crashed down on me I did the one thing I could do, I tried to keep it up. I lifted my arms but I immediately fell on my knees. My arms started shaking at the weight. I managed this for a little while longer, but when something heavy hit my head I immediately lost conscious. And I died.

Kidding! How could I be telling this story if I died? EXACTLY. You might be a piece of machinery, but I bet you would weep robot tears if I died. I feel very touched by your kindness. Anyway when I came back to the living world, I wasn't welcomed with open arms at all. 'WAKE UP!' I got slapped in the face again, and this time I took a deep breath as I immediately started panicking.

It was Arthur who'd managed to hit me. His face was covered with bruises, dirt and there was a cut in his left arm. His eyes were teary and panic and fear was written all over his face. My entire body felt tense as I felt it being squished by the large force above me. 'Thank God you're alive.' He managed to say, his voice sounded as if he'd been screaming for half an hour. I managed to breathe with difficulties, but I couldn't move at all.

It was then that I noticed Lukas Bondevik (one of Arthur's club friends) lying besides me, he was unconscious and his leg was stuck under a big piece of rock. It was definitely broken. 'What… what happened?' I tried to move again, but noticed my arms lying in a weird position above me. And when I looked I noticed I was holding up a part of the roof. If I let it go (don't you even dare think of that song) it would have probably squished us into tiny little pieces.

'Al, are you alright? Are you hurt?' Arthur tried to make his way towards me, but his jacket was stuck under a heavy iron beam. Slowly I nodded. 'Yeah, feel a little dizzy, but that's it. Arthur you're hurt. We need to…' I tried to lift up the heavy piece even more but failed. 'We need to get out of here!'

He seemed to have trouble breathing properly too. 'We're stuck, it's a miracle that we didn't…' he looked away and he never finished that sentence. Because he wanted to say that we would have died. I tried to lift the dead weight above me again, but it didn't move at all. And suddenly I heard Arthur sob. I'd only see him cry a few times. But the tears that were running down his face really showed me in how much pain he was.

'You're losing too much blood. We need to get you some help.' I was surprised how calm I managed to be. I had powers, if I could just get the wounded out of here… The silence was broken by someone screaming my name. 'Alfred!' The words were loud and clear, and as I tried not to fall down and pass out again, the voice came closer. 'ALFRED!' It was Arthur who spoke up. 'WE'RE HERE! HELP US!'

The voice came closer. And suddenly I saw a pair of feet. 'Alfred are you here? Are you alright?' It was Matthew, his voice had never sounded so fearful. 'Yes we're here, there some others here as well, they're badly injured. You need to get us out of here.' Arthur sounded very calm as he spoke, but he was definitely shaking. Matthew let out a relieved sight. 'I'll try to lift it up okay?' Arthur shook his head. 'It's too heavy, only if you're there with an army will you ever achieve that.'

I shook my head. 'I'll help, on the count of three we'll try to lift it.' Matthew agreed, and I took a better grip on the heavy object. 'One.' I took a deep breath. 'Two.' I felt myself tense up. 'Three.' My mind became perfectly clear, I tried to stand up, giving it everything I got to lift it up. I heard Matthew on the other side. 'ALMOST!' He said, as slowly a path became clear. But I didn't know how much longer I could do this.

'Arthur, get everyone out of here.' He stared at me confused but then nodded. He started going through the pages of a book. I almost lost my concentration at the sight. 'Art… this is a terrible moment to read books…' He ignored me and instead started mumbling something under his breath. He pointed at our classmates, they suddenly stood up and walked outside with odd unnatural movements.

I almost dropped whatever the hell I'd been doing. I looked at Arthur's glowing green eyes in confusion. He gave me a look that told me he wasn't afraid anymore. In fact, I felt as if I was the one who wanted to cry. But before anything could be said I remembered that I was slowly getting squished into an Alfred-pancake.

Quote of the day: 'Pancakes are great. Except when they're made out of Alfred's. That's just gross, don't eat that. Not even if you own Maple Syrup.' - Alfred Jones

'Guys what are you doing there? Holding a fucking tea party?!' I'd never heard Matthew sound so angry. I turned to Arthur and I wanted to tell him to hurry up. But it was then that an enormous explosion made my eardrums shrivel and die. Matthew screamed something else, and Arthur hurried to the opening. He turned around as he noticed I wasn't moving. 'Alfred what are you standing there hurry up!'

I couldn't move, if I tried the dead weight might crush me. I felt sweat get into my eyes, and my nose started to itch. (The absolute worst moment for scratching your nose ladies and gentleman.) 'I can't. Matthew won't be able to lift it on his own.' I managed to say, my arms were on fire. My legs were shaking and were waiting for me to give in. But Arthur rolled his eyes and stretched out his hand to me.

'Slowly make your way over here. At the count of three I'll pull you out. But you need to trust me.' I nodded as I slowly shuffled his way. Every time I came closer I could hear the sounds of the outside world more. Above me the ceiling started protesting. When I finally reached him I realized this was going to be very tricky.

'We're going to be fine. Trust me.' He reassured me, but I saw his hands shake. His left arms was still bleeding and his shirt and gotten wet and dark with the bloody substance. He started counting off, and slowly my right hand let go of the weight above me. I could hear Matthew curse at the sudden extra weight he was receiving. On the count of three Arthur took my hand and quickly pulled me out.

Matthew immediately dropped the dead weight. We all let out a relieved sight. Lukas had been dragged outside by the other two who had woken up. And when I looked around I felt something was stuck in my throat. The common room had been transformed in a chaotic mess. But there were still people calling for help.

'Matthew take Arthur outside, he's hurt. I'll try to help the others out.' Matthew nodded as he pulled Arthur with him. But Arthur resisted, he held up the book. 'We can only do this together.' He stated. And in any other situation I might have had a good laugh. It was all super dramatic. But right now I just nodded. 'Do your thing.'

He started mumbling and pointed to the nearest piece of what looked like metal. And the heavy object floated into the sky, as Arthur held his hand out. His eyes started illuminating in an intense green color. Matthew was staring at the scene in shock, but didn't say anything. There was no time for asking questions really. Matthew pulled out the people under it, and carried them outside. And soon enough I was helping too.

But we all had a limit, and once the last people were out I felt that I was going down again. But before I could even hit the ground properly Arthur was already flat on his face. The book was suddenly nowhere in sight. A group of grown up men in uniforms were picking Arthur from the ground, and pulling me with them too. Outside I saw the firemen fighting the forest fire. My mind went numb. And as they put me on a stretcher I heard someone say something to me. But the moment I laid down I went out.

So… how to describe my dreams? Oddly enough they were filled with feathers. It started out really nice and calm. It was just me and Arthur sitting on the roof of the school. I think he was reading. I was bored and throwing a ball into the air. Every time that it almost fell of the roof Arthur would warn me to be careful. But he didn't sound hostile.

It was a nice summer day. And he looked relaxed. His guitar was lying beside him, but he ignored it. I asked him to not worry so much. And he stated that even in dreams I could probably hurt myself. When I looked up Matthew was standing beside Arthur. I scratched my head in confusion. And asked why I was dreaming. But they ignored me. They didn't say anything. They just stared at me in silence.

Just imagine how surprised I was when I woke up in a hospital. Slowly I felt my eyes open. Everything was blurry at first but soon enough I was completely conscious again. I felt confused. Why was in such a comfortable bed? Why couldn't I feel anything? And how the hell had I got here? My head was spinning with the complot theories. Maybe I was captured by aliens. Maybe the American government had found me.

The ideas became so scary that soon I tried to look around. It was then I felt something on my stomach. When I looked down I saw Arthur taking a nap. He was sitting on an uncomfortable looking chair, his mouth was wide open and he was snoring loudly. Drool was definitely on the blankets by now, and that was pretty disgusting.

Why was Arthur here? I kept staring at him for a while. I was afraid to wake him up. But slowly I felt the corners of my mouth move up. I tried to keep in a laugh at the ridiculous sight of the English gentleman, but when he started frowning I couldn't hold back any longer. An almost painful snort left my nose, he just looked so weird. I mean, he even looked angry in his sleep! Of course my fit of laughter woke him up.

Two green eyes locked with mine. Arthur immediately sat up straight. And for a few minutes we just stared at each other. His face went from confused, to angry, and in the end landed on joyous. 'Good morning.' He said, his voice barely shaking as he took my hand and gave it a good squeeze. I couldn't see very clearly, and I squished my eyes to see Arthur's expression better. 'Artie… seen… glasses?'

He immediately took them from a night stand and once I saw clearly I felt my mind clear up too. Talking was more difficult than I'd expected. But as memories flooded me I managed to find the words to express my shock: 'The accident.'

It was then I noticed that one of those bleeping heart thingies was standing beside me. It was telling me that my heart rate was going to quick. Arthur nodded as he pressed a button that would probably tell I was awake. 'I'm so happy you finally woke up. You were in a coma Alfred. You've been out for two weeks.' I stared at him in shock.

Two weeks? I'd really been lying here for two weeks? I stared at him in disbelief, but his face kept switching between worried and happy. So I asked the first question that I could come up with: 'Is… Mattie… alright?' Arthur nodded. 'He's fine. He just refused to leave your side though. I had to force him to take a good night rest. So we've been switching.'

Typical Matthew, I realized Arthur was still holding my hand. I tried to remember if he'd ever done that before. But quickly realised I didn't care either way. 'I'm just so glad you're okay.' He was whispering now. I finally noticed how tired he looked. He was pale, dark bags had found their ways under his eyes, and he looked like he was actually getting sick. I probably looked worried as his grip on my hand tightened.

'We thought… we actually we thought we'd lost you Alfred.' I was struck by those words. By the sincerity in them. The fear was very present too. I really wanted to hug him, but I thought it would be wise to keep still. But as I pinched his hand to comfort him, something odd happened. A loud crack just ruined the moment.

Arthur's pale face turned slightly green. And with his right hand he muffled his screaming in pain. I quickly let go. 'Are you… okay?' Talking really was tough. He held his broken fingers carefully while trying to keep back the painful noises he wanted to make. I felt quite hopeless. What had I done? Had I hurt him? The heart monitor was definitely not being positive about the situation either. But before I could say anything else, Arthur was already going through an old dirty book with his good hand.

Arthur quickly started whispering something as his broken hand started glowing in a Hulk green color. (Yes I just said Hulk green. Deal with it.) Before I could even be surprised Arthur was already telling me to be quiet. He put the book away, and his hand was normal again. I wanted to ask for an explanation, I wanted to stutter something while freaking out. But I failed because the doctor walked in.

'I see you're awake.' Arthur stood up to give the doctor some room. Our silent conversation told me everything that I needed to know. For now he couldn't tell me, for now I had to pretend nothing happened. Soon he left the room, stating he was going to tell Matthew the good news. He was gone before I even had the time to protest.

The doctor was a nice guy. He talked with a very unnerving and relaxing tone. He explained to me that I'd fallen in a coma after receiving a good hit on the head. However as the damage wasn't very critical, they found that I would probably wake up sooner or later. They had informed my family about the incident, and he stated that I should probably give them a call soon. I was happy, happy to be alive and okay.

But it was then he got serious. I would have to take it easy the next couple of weeks. They were keeping an eye on me (which reminded me of the whole big brother is watching thing.) As they were not yet sure if everything was okay. After that we went through some basic tests. What was my name? What year it was, my favorite color etcetera.

I couldn't answer all questions yet, and after a while I felt my eyes getting heavy. He reassured me that feeling tired was a very normal occurrence for people who'd just woken up from a comatose. But I didn't want to sleep yet, I wanted to see Matthew. But before I could even voice my protest I felt myself fall asleep.

The next moment I woke up was for breakfast, and I was hungry. The doctor visited again, and after some successful tests he opened the door for my friends. He did warn them that my vocabulary wasn't completely restored yet. But Matthew simply shrugged his shoulders and said that my English wasn't that good anyway. I'd almost forgotten that he was an asshole.

Soon enough Matthew and Arthur were carefully asking me things. Probably to test if I hadn't become nuts. But there were other things that were more important to discuss. 'So what happened?' It seemed like the most logical question, but Matthew suddenly looked uncomfortable. Arthur turned away from my questioning face too. 'It's quite a long story Al, we're not sure if you're ready to take in all that information.'

Their excuses sounded like a ton of bullshit to me. 'Let's just get this over with.' Arthur pulled an article from the local newspaper from his bag. He shoved it to me. And I started reading the text. One I'd read the whole article I felt like someone had put snow in my neck.

'So let me get this straight: An amateur pilot decided to fly around on a stormy night? He got hit by lightning and the airplane crashed into the school?' Matthew nodded. 'The forest caught fire because the airplane was on fire. But they managed to control that very quickly. The pilot died instantly.' Arthur added to that that around 47 people had gotten badly injured and an even bigger number of people had gotten minor injuries.

'When you were here, the local and regional news covered the story. But for some reason it didn't get covered on the national news. Maybe the school wanted to avoid bad publicity or something. The only two people who fell in a coma were you and Magnus Densen. The latter hasn't woken up yet.' Arthur's voice got colder the longer he continued. He was frowning even more, but I couldn't exactly say what bothered him.

Matthew continued, he failed at sounding optimistic. 'The damage looked worse than it actually was, and they've already rebuild the girl dorms entirely. And they've almost finished the boy dorms. The few people who were left with no living accommodations were moved to the girl dorms. Most classes have already begun again, but things are taking slowly since so many people got injured.'

My head was hurting. 'How are the others doing?' I tried not to show how tired I was. I really wanted to take a nap by now, but stopped myself. I just needed to now if our friends were okay. 'They're fine, Arthur took care of it.' I remembered the green light on Arthur's hand. 'How did you do it?' I started making myself comfortable on the bed. It was actually quite cosy…

Arthur started mumbling something. But I didn't understand what he was saying. Maybe my brain was just done with it for the day. 'I can't really…' before I could even finish my sentence I was out. My dreams weren't very peaceful, they were a chaotic mess of terrible things. But the irony was (I don't really understand the concept of irony, but if Arthur can use it, then I should be able to use it too!) that when I would wake up in a few hours, the chaos would still be there.

4 days later I was considered to be a miracle by many of the nurses. They'd never seen anyone recover so quickly from a coma. I could talk normally again, the only times I felt tired was when it became evening, and I was even allowed to walk around again. A lot of my friends had visited over the last few days. Most were doing well.

Probably because of Arthur's Hulk powers. And nobody even remembered us doing odd things the night of the accident. I felt as if it had something to do with Matthew's powers of invisibility. But I wasn't sure. I still didn't know much about Arthur's powers. He avoided the topic every time he visited.

Apparently Matthew and Arthur had already discussed the origin story of our powers. This was super unfair of them to do, because I would have loved to tell our origin story! But you know with the while coma thing that I had going on, I couldn't really blame them. Both Matthew and I were however badly informed about Arthur's abilities.

The few things Matthew knew he refused to share with me. And I found it all pretty annoying. During the early afternoon Matthew had picked up some food for the three of us. Arthur's face became filled with disgust as he was handed a cheeseburger. He mumbled something about unhealthy junk food, but then proceeded to eat it.

'This is great Mattie! You're a true hero dude. How did you get this here anyway?' I was sitting on the bed in my normal clothes. Matthew dipped his fries in the free sauce. 'Well um, I turned it all invisible and sneak it inside.' His face got red at the mention. Normally when he talked about his power he got uncomfortable. But both Arthur and I agreed that Matthew was definitely getting better at controlling them.

'So have you heard anything new from your mother?' I looked up at Arthur expectantly. His mother was one of the teachers at school. So if there were new developments of any kind Arthur usually knew. Arthur looked deep in thought. 'Not really. The school is just trying to make everything as normal as possible. You'll return at the end of the week. And only a few people are really stuck to their beds.'

One of them was probably Magnus, who still hadn't woken up. His parents had taken the plane from Denmark at this point. And I truly felt bad for the family. When mom heard about the accident she had to be locked in her room. Otherwise she would have been here at my side. Luckily I'd woken up quickly and when we called her she had been crying with relieve.

'One of the people, who are still in a bad condition, is Tessa Dijkstra. She's one of your friends, am I right Matthew?' My brother looked away, his face was very good in expressing concern. 'Have you visited her again?' He looked at Arthur with a questioning face, but the Englishmen looked away. 'I've managed to heal all her injuries. But somehow her state is only getting worse. I fear it might be something in her cells.'

At this point I'd already finished 4 of the 7 burgers Matthew had brought for me. 'But can't you use your glowing Hulk hands to make her better?' Arthur started fumbling with his hands. 'It isn't that easy Alfred. Big wounds are easy, as long as they are physical and easily reachable. But cells and mental damage is a lot more complicated.'

'So are you going to tell us how your powers work? Or are you just gonna keep it all secret for fun?' I didn't mean to sound irritated. But I had the right be. Arthur's face got even blanker at the mention. 'I… I can't do that yet.' Both Matthew and I raised our eyebrows. 'And why is that? Have the stars not aligned yet?'

Matthew decided to go for a nicer approach. 'We understand it isn't easy Arthur. Up until now you had to figure it out on your own. But we're a team now. You can trust us.' It was silent for a little while longer. And before I could open my mouth to say something, Arthur had stood up and left the room. 'I'm going to check on Francis.' He stated as he opened the door and left.

'We scared him.' Matthew looked miserable. Slowly I stood up and put on my nearest jacket. 'We didn't Matt. He's just being careful, he doesn't trust us yet. But he will soon enough.' I threw his coat at his face, but he caught it without trouble. 'Let's go for a walk. I wanna try our new thing. You promised me I was allowed to try it today.' I couldn't really hide my excitement.

Matthew let out a sight. 'Fine let's go.' I reached for his arm and as soon as I touched it we both turned invisible. As we sneaked through the hallway of the hospital I had trouble not falling over my own feet. Because let me tell you: Turning invisible is freaky. The cool thing about this development was that we could probably sneak around anywhere we wanted.

The bad thing was that as soon as I let go of him I would turn visible again. Matthew was a lot more comfortable in this form. He walked quietly, but the way he did made it clear he was confident. He should definitely become a spy or maybe even a ninja. It would fit him.

We were almost outside when suddenly Matthew stood still. 'What are you doing?' I whispered. I could only vaguely see his silhouette, maybe a side effect of both being invisible, but I could definitely see he was staring at someone.

I followed his stare at Antonio. He was walking through the hallway carefully. He looked around cautious before standing still at one of the hospital rooms. He seemed torn for a second, probably doubting himself or something. But in the end he opened the door and walked inside. I thought that was the end of it, but Matthew pulled me with him.

Once inside the room we had a silent fight about what to do. Matthew refused to leave, and I refused to listen to other people's conversation. But since Antonio had walked into the room of one of his friends, he won in the end. Matthew can be extremely stubborn if he wants to be. Once inside there was an interesting sight waiting for us. Antonio was sitting beside someone. The girl that was lying in the bed looked horrible. She looked tired, sick and her head had been bandaged.

Her eyes were glaring daggers. And her voice was very calm as she said: 'Are you going to say something, or did you just want to honour me with a visit after two weeks of ignoring each other?' I remembered her. She was the girl that Arthur had failed to cure, Tessa Dijkstra. I looked confused from the Spaniard to the Dutch woman. Those two never got along very well, so what was going on?

The atmosphere almost felt loaded. And my stomach turned into an odd twist as Antonio finally looked up. I'd never seen him look so serious. 'Thank you, for… for saving me.' Matthew's grip on my arm got tighter. I had no idea what had happened on the night of the Festival between those two. But apparently she had saved his ass.

Maybe there had been a silent conversation going on, because when I looked away from Matthew they were talking to each other. 'You feel it too, don't you?' He asked. She looked away, and for a second I thought she was just confused by his choice of words. But then she started talking in riddles too. 'It can't happen ever again. Whatever it was, it was bad.' She started braiding her hair, but she didn't seem to give it much thought.

Antonio was silent for a minute or two before he mumbled: 'Was it really?' Suddenly she looked up, her eyes almost spitting fire. 'You saw what happened right? All of this was our fault. People could have been hurt… or worse.' It was me who was frozen now (I should probably let this reference go.) What was she saying? What did she mean with that? I felt as if we had walked into a conversation that wasn't meant for our ears at all.

Slowly he raised his hand, as if he wanted to take hers. But she tucked her hands away immediately. 'If you feel it too, than why do you resist?' He asked, he pulled back his hand. But it seemed that he actually didn't want to. Her face got even paler as she whispered: 'Because when I woke up everything turned into a mess. And it doesn't matter what you want, what… we want. My sibling's safety takes priority.'

He stood up and turned to us. And for a second I got startled. It was then that I realised he was looking at the door not at us. I was not allowed to feel relieved though, as any sound could alarm them. 'I understand. But what are you planning to do?' I shifted a bit, and suddenly a pair of eyes was darting in my direction. She could however not see anything.

'I stay away from you, as much as possible. I think it's the easiest solution.' She made it sound like it was hard for her to do such thing. And I wondered: Had these two been in a relationship? Maybe I should ask Matthew later. 'You know that isn't going to last.' Antonio snapped, he sounded annoyed. He looked like he wanted to pull out his hair. 'You're being selfish. I need to you too. You know… it isn't that… easy.' Tessa looked at him, and her cold expression got a bit softer.

'I know that.' After that I carefully pulled Matthew with me. We left in silence. Thank God he hadn't closed the door properly. The moment we stood outside he let go of me. His face was pale, and he sat on the ground. He tried catching his breath as if he'd been in the worst basketball match of his life. 'Mattie what was that all about?'

I was angry because I'd broken into a personal conversation. I was confused because of the nature of the conversation. And I felt fear. Fear because of the ominous choice of words. Matthew stood up, he rubbed his eyes in habit. 'I just wanted to know what he was doing there. How could I have known that they were secretly dating?

I looked at him perplexed. 'That's what you noticed going on? They were talking about the Festival. They did something that night. Something that triggered the accident! And I think they're trying to keep it under wraps.' Matthew shook his head. 'I know Tessa better than you, she would never do that. And you know Antonio, he couldn't hurt a fly.' It annoyed me how much faith he had in that girl.

I'd heard bad things about her. It was said that she sells drugs and other illegal chemicals. And she didn't look like the most trust worthy person in the world. Yet Matthew had complete faith in her. 'Whatever. They're obviously hiding something. And I'm going to figure out what.' Matthew put of his glasses, and gave me an annoyed look.

'No you won't. They are both good people, and I won't let you ruin everything for them. I hadn't expected them to be… dating. But that's their personal issue not yours.' We looked at each other in anger. We'd often had fist fights before. And I knew I couldn't just back off because he ordered me to.

'So you don't want to check this out? Who knows maybe they did it all on purpose. You can't know for sure!' He walked towards me, his voice got softer and it freaked me out. 'You're reading their situation wrong. You desperately want to get rid of your guilt. And you think you can do that by finding the culprits. But guess what? There was no culprit. It was an accident.'

I couldn't hide my cynical amusement. 'Oh so you're my therapist now? Fuck you dude. I got crushed by a ceiling, but I definitely didn't lose my mind. So you can stop treating me like I'm brain dead.' Matthew's chilly aura got worse as he gripped my shirt. 'You back off you hear me? No looking into others people's business. If I find out you did something I'll swear to whatever-supernatural power that I will make you lose a few tooth.'

We made our way outside. I knew his threat was to taken serious. Definitely with our new trick involved. He hadn't asked me to make a promise. I guess he was hoping that I was going to cross that line. Maybe he really wanted to test if he could beat the shit out of me. Matthew's temper had already cooled down by now, but I still felt ready to punch something. So when I saw the nearest tree I decided I didn't like it.

And I knew I shouldn't have punched it. It could have broken my hand. But as I hit it the only damage could be found in the tree. A nice hole was left were my fist had first been. 'Feeling better?' I shook my head. 'Not really, but it is nice to know that you're not the only with super strength.' Matthew wasn't excited about this new ability. Instead he was even more stressed and even more worried than before.

'If we don't learn how to control it we might unintentionally hurt people.' This time I tested my flying. I floated up and decided to sit on of the trees' branches. 'You know you shouldn't worry so much. I don't know much about these new powers, but we'll figure it out. And then I can finally be Superman.' He frowned. 'Superman? Really?'

I nodded. 'Yeah why not? I can fly, I'm hella strong. I don't see why not?' Matthew grinned slightly. We both avoided restarting the discussion around Antonio and Tessa. So much was clear for both of us. 'You would have to deal with copy right issues.' Shit he was right. 'Well than I'll just make up my own persona.' He obviously didn't believe me.

'Good luck with that.' I smiled as I floated down. 'Challenge accepted dude. I'm going to invent the best persona ever. And you'll be super jealous.' He probably wanted to make an offending come back. But Arthur was suddenly standing at the tree. 'Just stop right there Jones. Someone who can't even read a book properly shouldn't be allowed to make up his own characters.' We both jumped back in shock.

'Dude you really need to stop doing that!' Arthur was looking like usual. His clothes had probably been ironed, his face looked calm and collected. And his hair was a complete mess, it looked like he'd gone through a wind tunnel. 'What are you talking about?' Matthew was gripping his heart as if he was waiting for it to stop working. 'What Alfred means is that you sometimes appear out of nowhere and it's really freaking us out.'

'You both need to grow up. If you get startled by something so minor I don't even want to know how you react on really scary situations.' Somehow that peaked my interest. 'You mean like, have you seen scary things in real life?' Arthur looked away, this had definitely something to do with his powers. 'I've been thinking. You were right, I don't trust you, that's why I didn't want to share anything about my powers.' Arthur was staring at the hole I'd made. 'But you have the right to know. But please don't judge me.' He looked lost and afraid. But I smiled at him, hoping to reassure him.

'We would never judge you dude. You should know that by now.' As he started telling I felt as if the mystery around Arthur Kirkland was only getting more layers. And I felt a chill run down my spine at the mention of ghost…. Ghosts.

I really hate ghost.


	9. Chapter 8 - Arthur: Old Chap

_Before you assume, learn the facts._ ~ Victoria Kirkland

Alfred and I shared many secrets. One of the more fun ones was the fact that he’s scared of thunder. And sure Matthew knows about this too, and anyone with a bit of brain can probably figure out that Alfred hates that particularly force of nature. However some of my favourite memories were created by this simple fear.  
Like when we were only twelve, it was the midst of a stormy night. Around that time Alfred shared a room with Magnus. Who loved making him even more scared by telling him creepy stories. The poor boy couldn’t sleep anymore, and thought that he could talk with Matthew about it. But he switched up our rooms. So in the middle of the night I opened the door to see an almost crying Alfred. I felt bad for him, and allowed him to stay, since Francis had returned home for the holidays anyway.

It was weird. Despite that we were the same age, he was crying under the blankets of my bed. And I was just standing there, pretending to be an adult. But we got into a short argument when he refused to move. ‘Alfred that’s my bed…’ Another loud rumble made him hide away again. ‘No way that I’m gonna move, I don’t wanna die!’  
The rest of the night we sat on my bed. He hidden under the blankets, and I sitting at the edge with a blanket wrapped around me. And we talked to distract him. We discussed all the things he liked. And soon enough he started dozing off. I thought it would be a one night thing. But I didn’t understand back than that it would only be the beginning of a very annoying tradition.  
Like tonight. School had started again, and since Alfred had returned things had sort of turned back to normal again. Homework was a pain, club activities were time consuming. And then there was the other… thing. When I woke up in the hospital, the doctor was surprised at my instant recovery. There were no scars, not even bruises.

They called it a miracle. I called it magic.

From the moment my brain could think clearly I just found the logical explanation. It had to be magic. Because what happened on the night of the accident? The mysterious book and the levitating heavy objects? It all had something to do with magic. Maybe I was going crazy, but when my invisible friends kept pointing at a certain page of the book, I knew that they knew how to use it. And when I read the spell I was suddenly able to understand their languages. For a lack of a better word I started calling it the fairy languages.  
I could finally talk to the magical creatures I’d been able to see my entire life. And it made a lot of things clear to me. They said that magic ran through my veins. That it had enabled me to see odd things ever since I was a child. Ghosts, fairies, gnomes, they were all real. It was nice to know that I wasn’t mental. But the more they explained the more scared I got.  
Magic was a tricky ability to learn. It was dangerous, it could kill and it could heal.

And although they could guide me, give me advice. I would have to figure it out on my own in the end. They said that the accident had probably triggered the magic, and now that there were no boundaries holding me back I could practise out my abilities in almost full potential.  
When I asked sarcastically if I would need a wand they replied that it wasn’t as necessary tool. And my head grew dizzy with surprises. I felt like a missing puzzle piece had finally found its place in my life. Finally something about me was making sense. And sure, I still had more questions than I should. But it was still better than nothing.  
As the days past I started curing other patients. Although I had no idea why.

Matthew was quick to interrogate me. He wanted to know what I could do. When I’d learn my powers, how I got them and why. I felt attacked. Attacked by a passive and friendly person from whom I had the tendency to forget he was even in the room.  
It was at one side really surprising to see his invisibility power. But when he showed his enormous strength I felt even more intimidated. I didn’t know how Matthew (or Alfred) had received these abilities. But the things they could do definitely didn’t look like magic. When I asked the fairies about it they simply kept silent or disappeared for a while. Apparently they thought it wasn’t their business.

When Matthew demanded to see my capabilities I shut down completely. I didn’t want anyone to know. I didn’t even understand it myself. Matthew looked like he’d had practise. But I? I even had trouble summoning the book that would help me use my magic. For days I’d managed to keep him off. But the moment Alfred woke up I had no other choice but to explain. But instead of telling them the truth, I told them a twisted version of it.

Alfred was hesitant to believe me of course. He was a man of science. And my unexplained abilities had to be explained by science. Their "powers" had only manifested recently. But I’d grown up with my abilities. And I was afraid for them to discover that I was different from them. It was the last thing that I wanted them to know.  
Definitely since we started forming a group. Yes you heard it right. Alfred’s old Hero Club got a grand reopening. I thought he was just joking around. But soon enough Matthew and I were forced to go to meetings that didn’t make sense at all. We got stupid code names (England for me, and Canada for Matthew) and it was all incredibly mediocre.  
It might sound odd: But I was glad to not be alone in this situation. Sure Alfred was annoying and acting way too excited. And sure he was thinking about going on secret missions and whatnot. But it was fun, and I felt less freaky. Soon life felt normal again.

August was slowly closing to and end by now. And outside there was no sun to be seen. It had been raining for days. And tonight a big storm was destroying (not in the literal sense) the school grounds. I’d returned late from the Magic Club meeting, and when I entered my room I let out a sight as I got rid of my uniform. My roommate Ivan was sitting behind his desk.  
You guys haven’t been properly introduced to Ivan Braginsky yet. But he’s a tall Russian man with an eerie smile and a shady past. When he enters a room the temperature drops at least two degrees and only a few truly like him.

‘Hello comrade. I see you’ve returned from your club activities.’ He smiled brightly. And somehow it just gave me the chills. ‘Good evening Ivan.’ I threw my tie in the corner of the room. And Ivan looked at his laptop screen again. His thick Russian accent didn’t really help his intimidating looks. He was probably the tallest guy in the entire school. He has the tendency to stare at people with his bright blue eyes and he shares the same light blonde hair as his sisters.  
I’d never understood why Irina, Ivan and Natalya didn’t share the same last names (or nationalities) but I also didn’t feel like asking the big guy. Since I’d heard he could get pretty scary when upset. I’d learnt he wasn’t terrible company. I just wished we would have been on better terms. But we respected each other’s private space. So that was at least something. ‘You look tired. You should go to sleep right this instance.’ Ivan mildly stated.

He often gave me these odd instructions. And I often didn’t listen to them. ‘I’m not tired. I still have to finish homework. But if you want to you can go to bed, I’ll just put on a reading lamp.’ When I was still president of the Student Council I’d never had time for anything. I was constantly busy with everything. And sometimes I missed those days. Nowadays I could take everything in a more relaxing pace. And in these moments I could appreciate my withdrawal of the Student Council.  
Ivan smiled even brighter. And somehow I felt threat lurking in the air. ‘School is definitely something huh?’ His hand tightened as if he was ready to punch something. As long as I remembered Ivan’s signature clothes had been a thick white scarf and a long coat. And as he put those clothes on I wondered where the hell he was going at this hour. But I didn’t ask. I never did.

‘I’ll be going now. Goodnight!’ With those words he left.’ He almost did that every night. Maybe he had a sweetheart in the girl dorms that he went to visit. Or maybe he was secretly smoking pod with the junkies from the nearby village. I could only guess. But there’s one good thing about having Ivan as roommate. I walked over to his bed and pulled a big bottle of Vodka out. The man sure knew his liquors.

That night I was quite peacefully dreaming for once. I had a bit of a drink. And it relaxed me a lot. I’d completely forgotten about my homework. It was when I suddenly heard a loud bang on the door that I woke up. I looked around confused but then figured it was probably thunder. I was almost sleeping when another bang woke me. This time I was quite sure it came from the front door.

Quickly I made my way over it. The moment I saw the hole in the door I knew who had come to pay me a visit. Alfred looked extremely startled and guilty the moment I opened the door. ‘Hey… how ya doing?’ He was still holding his right arm like he’d hurt it. There were pieces of wood sticking out his flesh. It wasn’t a pretty sight.  
‘I’m sorry about you door dude. I guess I have to be more careful with the force I use.’ The longer I watched him in silence, the more awkward he got. He started talking about the trees outside and how he disliked it when the leaves fell.  
When he finally got quiet I summoned the book and started searching for a repair spell. While searching I also found a healing spell. And quickly I fixed his hand. His face brightened immediately. ‘Thanks!’ I gave him the finger as I continued searching for a repair spell. If Ivan saw the damage he would kill me. ‘Aren’t you a bit too old to be scared of thunder?’ I asked as I finally fixed the door.

Alfred’s face slowly got red but before he could say anything he was already screeching like a girl and running towards the bedroom. He ran through the small hallway and disappeared. Maybe it was for the better. With the hole fixed I could feel all the energy getting drained out of me. I had to hold on to the wall to prevent myself from falling.  
I had to rest, big spells like that one, made me exhausted. So when I saw him hiding under my bed I was honestly planning on sending him away. Because no normal sixteen year old in the right mind should be scared of thunder. But then again, we are talking about Alfred now aren’t we?

‘Alfred, could you please take a sleeping bag and leave my bed alone?’ His reply was muffled and one of protest. ‘Please it’s like 2 o’clock. At least try to act a bit mature for once.’ He gave me an angry look. And I held back a grin as I saw he was wearing his Spiderman pyjama. ‘I can act how I want. We weren’t all old man the moment we turned twelve Artie.’ I let out a sight, I was getting cold, and I really wanted to lie down again.

I decided to play it bold. ‘You know what, you can stay. I would just kindly request that you make room because I’m going to try to get some sleep.’ With those words I pushed him aside and made myself as comfortable as possible under the blankets. Let me tell you, a bed created for one person, is not comfortable for two people. Trust me.  
Alfred’s expression was funny though. His face went from scared to confused. And in the end he was just staring at me in panic as his face slowly got red. ‘What, wh-what the hell Art?’ I couldn’t help but to find it slightly amusing. ‘Remember I’m not doing this to comfort you. I’m only doing this because we have test tomorrow. It’s for my sake you understood?’ I felt my face heat up but managed to look calm.

Before he could reply he was already breaking my back in a tight embrace at the sound of thunder. ‘WE’RE GONNA DIE.’ I tried to breathe. I really did, but I felt as every cell in my body was dying. ‘Alfred. Need. Air.’ He loosened his grip immediately. ‘Oops I forgot. Are you okay?’ Somehow he always ended up looking at me with concern. I wondered why I always made him so worried.  
‘It’s okay. You don’t know your own strength yet.’ I awkwardly patted him on the head. The American was like a heater. He was radiating warmth, and as I was almost freezing I decided that I was lying quite comfortable like this. ‘Hey Art you can let go if you want to.’ Alfred sounded hesitant and when I refused to react and kept my eyes shut he started poking my cheek. ‘Don’t tell me you fell asleep. You snore like a caveman so you won’t fool me.’

My eyes snapped open at the insult. ‘You just ruined a fine moment, you do realize that?’ He looked at me dumbfounded, neither of us had moved an inch, and I tried not to feel embarrassed. When we were younger we used to cuddle like this all the time. But that was when we were kids. Nowadays it was just weird and awkward.  
At least that was what I told myself when I pinched his cheek. I hated how comfortable I could get around Alfred. He protested as he yanked my hand away. ‘Dude no violence during thunderstorms. And what was that for anyway?!’ When I didn’t react he got impatient with me. ‘Don’t ignore me Artie.’ He started poking my side, because the bastard knew I was ticklish. I tried to keep a straight face as I turned away from him.

‘I’m tired Alfred go to sleep.’ I really was tired, I could barely keep my eyes open. ‘Are you tired because you had long day or because of the magic?’ He said magic with a very hesitant tone. He still didn’t like the idea of it. Despite that I had given him enough evidence. ‘Yes, how more complex or tougher the spell, the more it exhausts me both mentally and physically.’ At this point I couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore.  
And reluctant I will admit to you all that I was facing Alfred again. Because he kinda reminded me of a big warm teddy bear. I could feel his warm arms wrap around me, and a part of my head was questioning the situation. But that part of my brain usually got messed up around Alfred. And I was always happy to lock it up in the deepest parts of my mind. Where not even I could be bothered by its constant nagging.

After a long silence I heard him whisper: ‘You reek of alcohol. You shouldn’t drink so much.’ I grumbled in annoyance. ‘It helps me relax.’ I could almost feel his annoyance as he whispers: ‘No it doesn’t. There are different ways to relax you known.’ I opened an eye to give him a look of irritation. ‘What like yoga? Do I look like the type?’  
He’d put his glasses off. He always looked younger without them.

He looked more childish, his features become a lot softer. And so did his eyes. He squinted his eyes a bit, like he had trouble seeing me clearly. ‘No you’re definitely not the yoga type. But like what do old people do when they want to relax? Don’t they knit or something?’  
If I wasn’t so tired I would have tried to slap him in the face. ‘No not all old people can knit and no I don’t either.’ Alfred’s face brightened when he seemed to have an idea. ‘Maybe you can pick up the guitar again. Nowadays you barely play.’ When we were younger, we used to play together a lot. And sometimes we still did. But through the years I’d picked up different hobbies and playing the guitar had faded to the background.  
‘Mmm, maybe. But tell me Alfred, are you trying to keep me awake?’ I’d busted his plan. And we both knew it. ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’ He was scratching his arm again. I didn’t even have to look to know. ‘I swear Jones you’re such a terrible liar.’

‘Am not.’  
‘You are.’  
‘Definitely not.’

I pushed him slightly. ‘You have this annoying tick that you show when lying.’ At this point I closed my eyes again. I could feel he wasn’t tense anymore. He’d calmed down almost completely. ‘I do?’ I smiled slightly, feeling that I was dozing off. ‘Yes you do, but not even for a million pounds would I tell you.’ There it was again. That scary little voice in my head. The voice that was trying to talk nonsense to me.

‘That’s even more in dollars you know.’ The little voice that told me that without Alfred my life would be empty. ‘Let me guess you could give me the exact number if you wanted to?’ The little voice that told me that the flustering I felt in my chest was more than just happiness. ‘Not know. Maybe tomorrow.’ I could feel his breathe in my neck. Normally I wouldn’t mind. But somehow I tensed up. What had changed? What was different?

I pondered about these thoughts. But never dared to cross borders I wanted to avoid. Borders I’d been forced to create because of someone else I’d loved. Someone who I wasn’t able to call my friend anymore. As I looked at Alfred, his happy smile, his big and surprised eyes. I felt fear, I felt concern. I didn’t want that to happen to us. He was a friend that I could not lose. I pressed the voice to the background. I ignored the flustering that I felt when he looked at me. I tried not to search things behind our actions.  
Because if I thought too much I would ruin us. And that was the last thing I wanted. At some point I fell asleep. And I was perfectly fine with sleeping. Because it helped my mind clean up the mess in which I’d left it behind. But the moment I woke up again it was because I got slapped in the face.

Immediately I felt a hand rest on my cheek. And of course it was Alfred. Because only Alfred would dare to come so close after slapping someone in the face on accident.  
‘I’m sorry I didn’t mean to punch you. The thunder just startled me and I-’ this brought back a memory I wanted to avoid at all costs. The one in which my judgment had been clouded, and Alfred had stared at me confused. I told myself to cut out the crap and instead I pulled Alfred between my arms. ‘It’s okay. It’s just thunder and I’m here remember?’  
He kept apologizing for his clumsy behaviour. But I told him to shut up (I told him in a very friendly manner mind I tell you.

I can be kind if I want to, thank you very much.) ‘Let’s talk about things we like okay? Just to keep our minds busy.’ This was almost the exact same situation. The only difference being that we were older, not drunk and I knew. I knew. I kept telling myself to not make the same mistakes.  
But I always did. ‘Like what?’ Over the years we’d run out of subjects to talk about. Sports, music, food, films and whatnot. So I just said the first thing I could say: ‘Which of the seasons do you like most?’ He was quiet for a while. ‘I like all of them.’ I could feel my heart beat in a quick pace. But it wasn’t bad. All was well. ‘Let me give you an example. I like summer.’ Alfred had always had this weird cowlick at the front of his hair that usually stuck up. I often reminded him to do his hair properly. But that one cowlick refused to work. He often joked that my entire hair was a cowlick.

‘I thought you hated summer.’ Not anymore.  
‘Yes I did, sometimes still do.’ But nowadays summer reminds me of certain things.  
‘Someone must have convinced you then.’ You did.  
‘I like the sun, I like how the sea smells. You can only have those things during the summer.’  
‘Well you could go to the beach any other season.’ It wouldn’t be the same.  
I felt him shift slightly. He head now resting on my arm like a pillow.

‘Well I guess if you put it that way I guess I really like fall.’ His answer surprised me. ‘I thought you hated autumn?’ I didn’t have to open my eyes to know he was smiling. ‘Well I guess some asshole convinced me too.’ For a little while we were quiet.  
‘You can only come up with stupid questions at this hour.’ Alfred stated blunt as he was. ‘Well excuse me for not coming up with the most interesting and most exquisite questions in the universe at this God forsaken hour.’ It was then I realised that the storm had ended outside. And suddenly silence took over the school grounds.  
‘You see, we survived the storm again.’ Alfred didn’t respond, and I wondered if he’d finally fallen asleep. ‘Well that’s because I’m with you. I guess you’re my lucky charm. He kissed my cheek. And a silence in which several dead bodies could be buried lasted.

My entire face heated up at the sudden affection. And in my loss of words and the panic that I felt I tried to come up with questions. Why did you do that? What am I to you? What are you thinking? Why won’t you answer me? Instead I felt back in our old pattern.  
The easy one in which we simply joked around and avoided trouble. ‘You’re an idiot now go back to sleep.’ Alfred quickly commented. ‘Correction: I am your idiot. And as you wish sir. Goodnight old chap.’ I said goodnight and closed my eyes. But as I heard his breathing slowing down, I noticed with panic that my heart was still beating at a rapid pace.

This was terrible.

It was the same sentence that I repeated to James Jefferson the next day on the phone. I was holding the phone with shaking hands. I just needed someone to blame, someone to punish. So why not my ex-best friend and childhood acquaintance? We hadn’t spoken in years. Because I had avoided him. I had destroyed our friendship. I’d told myself for many years that it was all his fault. Alfred and I shared many secrets. But none were as terrible as the ones I shared with James. He’d messed me up, he’d manipulated me. He’d made me sick. Yet none was actually his fault. When he asked why I was calling I was surprised at how calm he sounded. And I was surprised at the happy feeling taking over my mind. I’d missed him.  
‘James. I think it’s time you and I had a chat.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! So here's the new chapter. It was done a while ago, but I decided to put it in the fridge. Since this chapter is filled with fluff and whatnot. And I just wanted it to be perfect. :) Please enjoy!
> 
> 1\. This chapter was ment to actually be action packed and filled with stuff, and a lot of Francis. But oddly enough all these things just didn't happen.  
> 2\. Instead I was writing the calm after the storm. I don't mind how short it is. And I'm happy with how it turned out. :)  
> 3\. So remember Arthur's childhood friend James? Well suddenly he's an important character. Wasn't part of the plan but whatever.  
> 4\. Also a proper introduction to our favourite Russian fellow.  
> 5\. And I promise that you WILL see Francis in Matthew's chapter. ;)
> 
> Also I would like to thank you guys again for you wonderful reviews and support. You have no idea how much those help. I have a lot of people who are trying to help me create something proper out of this. And without you guys I would have probably already dropped this project. I've never reached such a far point with any of my stories! And I hope you're all just as excited as I am for what will happen next! ;)
> 
> So what will happen in Chapter 9? What will happen to our favourite characters? Will Arthur and Alfred figure stuff out? And what about the dangers of wanting to become a superhero? I guess we will see next time. And don't worry I'm already making progress with the next chapter. So hopefully I'll see you all soon! Please stay awesome guys and until next time!


	10. Chapter 9 - Matthew: Barking Up The Wrong Tree

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Greetings, my fellow Hetalians! So here's the thing: I actually wanted to update both chapter 9 and 10 on the 25th of March. Since that's my birthday. Sadly I didn't reach this deadline in time. Chapter 9 however did. But I kinda forgot to post it in all the commotion that is created when celebrating. SORRY! But here it is anyways! :D I hope you enjoy, please leave review down below to tell me your thoughts. ;)

_You do not see the heart of me,_  
 _You think I am transparent,_ ~ The Invisible Half, Part III

‘So you can all go to page sixty of your textbook. After you’ve read the text you may answer the questions…’ It was early in the afternoon, and I was sitting in French class. Usually I would sit beside Francis during this period. But since the accident he was stuck to his bed. The doctors stated that he’d probably received mental damage and his recovery would take some time. So since then I was stuck here without any form of amusement. Usually Francis would make comments on the awful fashion sense of our teacher.

But since he was gone French started becoming my fretting hour. I worried about everything. From Francis’s health, to the mysterious circumstances surrounding the airplane crash. Arthur had taken note that the national news hadn’t covered the accident. Something that was odd if you gave it some thought. As not only had a lot of people been injured, but there also had been two comatose students and a dead pilot.

Yet the silence in the media was continuing and it was even making me paranoid. ‘Are you okay? You’ve been staring at my answers for some time now, are you sure you can read it?’ Michelle Mancham was looking at me curiously. After the accident we’d hardly talked. But since Francis was still stuck to his bed Michelle needed a new tutor. And apparently the teacher thought that my French was good enough. ‘I’m sorry, I guess I spaced out. But you’re answers are fine. I don’t understand why I’m still tutoring you, you’re really good.’ She smiled, Michelle and I had always been on good terms. So it wasn’t difficult for us to spend more time together. But we never talked about that night.

We never talked about her freak out, she never asked why I’d run towards a crumbling building. And I could feel those questions hang between us. But we never spoke about it.  
‘Well I guess that’s it for today. If you have any questions you can always come to me alright?’ She nodded as she started packing her stuff. ‘Well I’ll be going. Thank you for your help Matthew. It’s really helping me out.’ I smiled as she stood up. ‘It’s nothing. I couldn’t say no to you even if I wanted to.’ She waved goodbye as she started walking towards the door but then suddenly stopped in her track. ‘Oh and Matthew?’

I looked up from my textbook. ‘Yes?’ For a second she seemed to hesitate. ‘I saw your friend, Tessa wasn’t it? I saw her at the gardens. You were looking for her right?’ I nodded as she left. So that’s were Tessa was hiding. I’d been looking for her everywhere. Over the last few weeks Tessa’s health hadn’t improved at all. She only seemed to get sicker. Her siblings were also expressing their concerns. Although Alfred had promised to leave both Tessa and Antonio alone, I did notice his sneaky suspicious glances. And although I kept telling myself that I trusted her, I couldn’t help but to observe the two myself. They had been acting odd the last couple of weeks. They almost seemed to avoid each other, and both looked extremely ill.

When I tried to get answers out of Tessa, she glared at me with distrust. After that she started avoiding me. And my roommate Gilbert had also noticed that Antonio was acting very unusual. He was grumpy, quiet and only spoke when necessary. He was usually spending his time outside. And he too seemed to avoid people.  
Mindlessly I started doing my homework. But my head kept coming back on subjects I wanted to avoid. Maybe I should go to the garden today. Michelle said Tessa was seen there. Maybe we can talk things out. The idea formed carefully in my mind. And in the end I decided it was probably for the best. ‘That will be it for today. Next time we will start our first reading assignment. Remember to pick out a book.’

We all started packing when I noticed Gilbert walking in. Remember my roommate Gilbert Beilschmidt? Let me say something about living with the self-proclaimed "awesomeness". You would think his side of the room is messy. Instead he’s a neat freak. Also he likes German hard-core bands. And most of the time he puts the music too loud for his own good.  
Also he’s a terrible singer. The first weeks with him were dreadful. And I couldn’t believe they’d actually put me on one room with him. But luckily we’ve been friends for some years, and he’s a good guy. Also from all people that ignored the uniform regulations Gilbert could definitely be a good contender for giving the least fucks. Like usual he looked like he’d just rolled out of bed. (Which I can even confirm is true.)

‘There you are. I’ve been looking for you.’ The first thing I noticed about him today was the bruises he seemed covered in. ‘Hey Gil. What happened? Did you get in a fight again?’ He smiled uncomfortable. ‘Yeah, just some punks who thought they were hot shit or whatever. Five against one is an unfair number, not that those dip-shits care.’  
Gilbert always got in fights like these. It was almost starting to get common. ‘I see. Well why were you looking for me?’ He scratched his head as he sat on the teacher’s desk. ‘I have exactly three reasons. Number one the guys left me with that creep Ivan. And since I couldn’t find Liz anywhere I thought it would be fun to annoy you.’  
Gilbert and Ivan had never been on good terms. Even when they were younger. ‘Secondly I thought it would be awesome of me, to inform you that your brother is talking to my grandpa.’ I looked up, surprised by the serious tone in his voice. ‘Your grandpa is what?’ His grandfather, Nikolaus Beilschmidt is the deputy-headmaster. He would probably be the most intimidating person I’d ever met, if it wasn’t for his long girly hair.

‘He wanted to talk to your brother. Probably about his recovery process or whatever.’ He clapped his hands as he pulled something out of his pocket. ‘And that brings me to my third reason. Since your brother is busy I thought I should give you this.’ He handed me a paper card. It was one of Alfred’s Tarot Cards.  
‘I still had this one, I thought you guys may’ve wanted it back. So here you go.’ The card was called Strength and showcased a woman petting a lion. ‘Thanks, he’ll be happy to have it back. He got it as present from this random lady on the street.’ Gilbert’s reddish eyes shined in amusement. ‘That guy really takes on presents from strangers?’ I didn’t really know the whole story. He’d only mentioned it vaguely. And I had never questioned the situation myself.

‘You know Al, he trusts people very easily.’ I collected my stuff and made my way towards the door. ‘You wanna have lunch with me then? Since Elizabeta has vanished into thin air?’ At the mention of the Hungarian Gilbert’s face got red. ‘How are things between you and Liz anyway?’ Gilbert’s usually pale face got completely red. ‘What do you mean? I’m just being my awesome self around her like always.’ Sometimes I wondered if Gilbert was stupid. He sure didn’t look it. At this point he should have already realized that he was crushing on Elizabeta. ‘Okay if you say so, just wanted to check.’ We stayed silent as we left the room and made our way through the hallway.

I looked up surprised when he started the subject again. ‘I think she and Roderich are dating.’ He looked in fascination at the rainy view outside. I couldn’t help but to feel bad for him. Roderich was almost the polar opposite of Gilbert. He is the sensitive stylish guy who plays classical music. Gilbert looked like a barbarian in comparison. I felt as if I should say something supportive. Something to cheer him up. But in the end I settled for patting him on the shoulder. ‘Nowadays everything seems a mess huh?’ We made our way towards the stairs. ‘Amen. I don’t know if you noticed, but everyone is acting weird recently too. I guess it’s the aftershock or something. But it’s starting to get on my nerves.’ I’d never really given that much thought. But now that he mentioned it, a lot of our classmates were indeed acting more odd than usual.

But what else should we expect? It wasn’t every day that a place of safety got crushed by an airplane. ‘I guess. I was thinking of visiting Francis today. You want to join?’ Gilbert suddenly stopped walking. His usually smirking face had gotten extremely serious. ‘Ivan has been acting weirder too. Don’t trust him okay? Something is going on with him, and I’m gonna figure out what.’ Before I could even react we heard a fight taking place right around the corner. I wanted to just ignore it and walk around it. But that’s when I heard who the two fighting people were. ‘You’re really starting to get on my nerves commie.’ Said a very familiar American voice. ‘Sorry I couldn’t hear you. The smell of junk food is making it hard to hear you.’ Was the reply of a Russian sounding voice which was also too familiar.

Alfred and Ivan were standing across of each other. Both looked extremely pissed. ‘Heaven’s no.’ I wanted to make my way towards them. But Gilbert stopped me in my track. The scene had attracted a lot of other students. ‘Maybe you should just stop bothering other people Alfred. Nobody asked you to get involved.’ My brother took a step closer, his knuckles turned white. My mind slightly panicked. At first because I thought that Alfred would get the hell punched out of him. But then I realized that we could probably make a hole in a concrete wall, so that made me feel relieved. For a second or so I felt calm. Then I remembered Ivan was made of something far more vulnerable than concrete. ‘Gil we have to do something.’  
I tried to make my way through the crowd, but we were stuck. ‘Just wait, they usually act nasty. But they don’t fight without a good reason.’ Did he even know Alfred? In the meantime Ivan and Alfred were still trash talking. (Thank God they weren’t making your momma jokes)

‘Dude I saw you. You do know that bothering little kids is kinda creepy?’ It was then I noticed a group of younger students standing at the side-line. Most looked like they were going to faint.  
I recognized Arthur’s younger brother Peter. And also the Latvian boy who was so intimidated by Ivan, he would usually burst out in tears when in his presence. ‘I was just talking to them comrade. What makes you think I would ever try to intimidate them?’ The hairs on my arm started standing up. I could actually see my own breath. Shit it was cold in here. It wasn’t helping the mood either. If Alfred would just back off now and just let it go, then both could walk away unharmed. But from the look in Alfred’s eyes I could see he was going to say something nasty. ‘Well I dunno. You are kind of a freak so…’ Something must have snapped in Ivan at those words, as he didn’t hesitate to punch Alfred in the face. From the simple force of the punch Alfred was already lying on the ground.

The crowd started getting amused. ‘Gilbert, let go.’ The German shook his head. ‘If you get in between them you’ll make a one way trip to the hospital.’ I could easily use enough force to break his arm. I was pretty sure I would survive. Alfred stood up, his face was bruised and he was bleeding. ‘Ouch, cool down commie.’ I wondered if he would punch back. I wondered if he could control the force he could use.

‘Nothing personal man. But I’m gonna punch your face until you bleed.’ He stretched his shoulders. ‘Just to set the record straight.’ With these words he hit the left flank of the Russian’s head. Who stumbled backwards. I had to cut in. This would only end nasty. I decided that a little force to free myself wouldn’t have any harm.  
But when I tried, I was extremely surprised that it didn’t seem to do anything for the German. ‘Gilbert let go.’ I could feel the blood stop circulating in my wrist by now. ‘Gilbert!’ At this point the crowd was being pushed aside by three angry looking people. Ludwig, his grandfather Mister Beilschmidt and Arthur.

Ludwig pulled the two angry students away from each other with ease. Mister Beilschmidt started chasing students away. And Arthur looked like he was ready to kill someone. ‘What were you thinking Jones?!’ Alfred looked like he was ready to fall down. ‘Hey Art.’ Gilbert finally let go, and I pushed him away angrily as I made my way towards Alfred. ‘I swear if your face wasn’t a mess right now, I would punch you.’ Arthur nodded in agreement.

‘Trust me, I would be glad to help you out.’ Arthur’s face went from furious, to whatever comes next in the stages of anger. ‘What were you thinking Jones?! You know he’s bigger, you know he’s stronger. What do you achieve by making him angry?’  
Alfred’s glasses were lying on the ground and I put them on his face. ‘I didn’t want to. But he was acting real nasty at some kids.’ Of course. Alfred’s way of reasoning had always been irrational. So I wasn’t that surprised anymore. Ivan’s two sisters were standing beside him. Natalya was looking at us like she wanted to kill us. And my stomach formed in a twist when I saw Irina look at me with disappointment.

This had officially become the worst day ever. ‘ALFRED JONES AND IVAN BRAGINKSY.’ We all looked up startled. Nikolaus Beilschmidt looked like he was ready to give the longest and angriest speech of his life. ‘You are both requested to the headmaster’s office.’ He pointed at Alfred. ‘You first mister Jones.’ Arthur reassured me he would go with him. So I stayed here to inform Ludwig about the situation. The deputy-headmaster looked at the two East European sisters. ‘I trust you two will take your brother to the medical centre?’ They both nodded and started carrying the bulky Russian away. After Ludwig had received all necessary information only Gilbert and I were left. We were standing in the hallway like idiots.  
‘Sorry about that.’ Gilbert stated. ‘It would have been unawesome if you got hurt. Alfred will be okay.’

I let out a deep sight. If they were going to call mom I was sure to get in trouble. ‘It’s okay. You just go. We have World History right now.’ I turned away. ‘Where are you going?’ I didn’t look back as I made my way towards the boy dorms. ‘I told you already. I’m going to Francis. I’ll see you later.’ And that’s how I left the scene behind.  
When I entered the room that Antonio and Francis shared. I expected to only find Francis. Yet it was Antonio who opened the door in surprise. ‘Hello, can I help you?’ He’d probably forgotten who I was… again. ‘It’s me Matthew. I came to visit Francis.’ Antonio’s big cheerful grin was fake. But he didn’t know that I knew. ‘Okay, well I was just going, so if you don’t have anything to do you can keep him company.’

The smell of smoke was itching my nose. It seemed to come from Antonio. ‘Antonio, your clothes smell like smoke. You should probably put on something different.’ Surprised he sniffed his shirt. ‘Oh you’re right. Well I don’t have the time right now, I’ll do it later. Thanks tough!’ It was the first time I saw real anger in his eyes.  
I wondered what had happened. When I entered the hallway things became awfully quiet. Everything smelled like smoke. Like something had been set on fire. I couldn’t help but to fear the worst. ‘Hey Francis, it’s me Matthew. I came to visit.’ Francis had only been back at his own place for a few days. Yet he sat there, sewing like it was the most normal thing to do.  
‘Good afternoon Matthew. What nice for you to come by and visit me.’ If I hadn’t known any better, I would have thought he’d finally gotten better.

But he was giving me that odd look again. But other than that he looked fine. ‘Stop being so worried about me. I feel great Matthew, really I wouldn’t lie to you.’ Well he was right about that I guess. ‘What about the voices?’ He stiffened at the mention. I wondered why he was sewing a long purple coat. ‘Those are gone my friend.’ He continued like nothing was wrong in the world. But I definitely saw the dark bags under his eyes. ‘Are you just telling me what I want to hear?’ He shook his head. ‘The doctor visited. He did a check and said I was fine. I’m feeling fine too. The voices were probably just caused by the shock.’ I slowly started feeling relieved. Every time I’d visited he’d kept telling me that he heard voices. That they were talking to him.  
He couldn’t hide anywhere. They kept talking. He hadn’t slept for days. And started talking to himself. But now all of that had stopped. Francis was back. I felt happy, Arthur would be pleased to hear this. Maybe his magic had worked in some way. ‘Tell me, is there something you want to talk about?’ I almost didn’t notice he was talking French.

‘Not really. I just wanted to make sure you’re alright. I’m glad you’re making so much process. French is boring without you.’ I wonder if I could tell him about Alfred’s fight today. Could he handle it? Francis was giving me such a worried expression that it startled me. ‘Is Alfred okay?’ I got taken back by the question. ‘What do you mean?’  
‘He got in a fight right? How is he doing?’ How did he know? ‘He’s doing well. You know him, always gets in fights with Ivan for no reason in particular.’ I switched back to English and so did Francis. ‘Ah yes, impulsive Alfred. Arthur worries about him a lot you know.’ I smiled as I made my way towards the window.

‘Wouldn’t be surprised by that. Do you mind if I open the window? It smells like smoke in here. Either you and Antonio have been smoking or Arthur tried to make scones.’ Francis waved his hand. ‘Yes please open it, it’s Antonio. He’s been angry lately although he doesn’t want to admit it.’ I frowned at that choice of words. ‘So because he’s angry he puts things on fire?’ We stared at each other’s serious expression for maybe a second or two before laughing.

‘Setting things on fire? Of course not. He’s just smoking and although he keeps the window open it still reeks everywhere.’ As the rainy wind blew in my face I let out a deep sight. ‘It’s nothing like Antonio to get angry. You know what happened?’ For a second Francis just gave me that odd look again before shaking his head. ‘I don’t know. He doesn’t want to talk about it yet. But he’s going to be fine, just like I’m starting to get better too.’ I smiled slightly before looking at my watch. I would have to go soon. Without looking up Francis suddenly said: ‘Your next class will start soon Mathieu. Will you give my regards to everyone?’ I stared at him in confusion for a second. And I wondered…  
Francis is there something on my face? The French man looked up from his craft work. ‘Well I don’t see anything. Why do you ask?’ I smiled slightly, hoping he couldn’t hear my fast heartbeat. ‘Just curious. I’ll have to go now.’ In a swift notion I made my way towards the door.

‘Matthew wait!’ I was immediately frozen. When I turned around I didn’t know what to expect, but I was surprised to see him handing over a letter.  
‘I went to receive my mail today and I found this in my mailbox. But I guess they put it wrong since it is addressed to you. So take it.’ With numb fingers I took the letter. The smaller Frenchman winked. ‘Don’t worry, I didn’t read it. Now you go, I have to finish my fabulous new coat and you have to go to your next class.’ I nodded dumbly as I started making my way through the hallway. I stared at the letter with curiosity.

I almost wanted to open it, but I got distracted when I realised that during Home Economics Arthur, Alfred and I usually shared a table. So I made my way to them as fast as I could. I immediately noticed that Arthur wasn’t in the mood to talk tough. Alfred besides him was still holding a napkin against his nose from time to time to stop any bleeding from happening. ‘Hey guys. I know you’re not in the mood to talk but…’

Arthur suddenly looked at me with anger. ‘Oh really? I look like I don’t want to talk? Well maybe it’s because someone at this table keeps acting like a moron.’ Alfred’s face started looking sour at the offensive words. ‘I told you I’m sorry. Besides I’m feeling good.’ None of the other students seemed to notice the discussion going on.  
‘Oh really you’re feeling good? Well that’s great! You know who isn’t feeling very well? Ivan. Because you hurt him Alfred. He’s still at the medical centre!’ I wasn’t in the mood for this stupid fight. But I also felt rude if I interrupted. ‘You know I didn’t mean it like that Art. I had no idea how much force I was using. Please just stop being angry at me.’  
I guess both Arthur and I got startled at the serious tone in his voice, because we both looked up. At this point the teacher walked in. And for a second it was silent. Arthur cleared his throat before taking Alfred’s hand. ‘I’m sorry. I don’t hate you. Although I know it must have seemed that way. I’m just worried, not only about you, but about all of us.’ He looked around nervous before adding: ‘These are hectic times, and I was just very worried. So please take this as an apology that I-’

The teacher was standing with interest at our desk. ‘Mister Kirkland could you please pay attention to the assignment? If you and your friends are desperate to talk you can do that outside my classroom understood?’ We all nodded and kept quiet immediately. As the teacher started talking about getting rid of nasty stains in white clothes, I started making "notes". When I finished I quickly handed the piece of paper to Arthur. For who’s curious, this was the content:

Matthew: I visited Francis after Alfred’s little incident. Remember how he said he heard voices? The doctor says he’s almost completely recovered. But he knew about the incident with Alfred. Who told him? Antonio sure wasn’t there. I know this sounds crazy, but I almost felt as if he was reading my mind. And if you don’t believe me, I did a test. I kept saying: Do I have something on my face? In my head, I was even thinking the sentence in French. And he looked up and said there was nothing there. He just continued with sewing. I don’t think he realised that I wasn’t saying it out loud. I don’t think we’re alone in this anymore. We should talk with him about this. If he really is a mind reader we should help him.

Arthur’s frown became bigger and bigger as he read. He gave the piece of paper to Alfred. And when Alfred finished reading he looked at me with amazement and excitement. Soon Arthur was writing a reply. Alfred read it over and immediately wrote down his own reply before handing it to me carefully.

Arthur: Interesting. I’ve been thinking the same recently. But I didn’t have enough proof to tell you folks anything. I’m curious at how this will develop. And I propose that I’ll be observing Francis the next few weeks. And I figure that Alfred can do some research on the internet about this. Since that seems to be his thing.

Alfred: Matthew you are the smartest brother ever! *o* Like I was thinking we should have a cool group name. Like ACE maybe. Since those are the initials of our countries. But FACE sounds pretty cool too! :D But we gotta be careful. What if Francis is like one of those evil villains from the comic books? :( I don’t want that! So I agree with Arthur’s plan! ;)

I nodded slightly as I put the piece of paper away. The rest of the hour we just sat there in silent as I pondered about the subject. Maybe Home Economics would become my new fretting hour once Francis returned to French? Since we didn’t have a very long day we all agreed to meet up later in the evening. We could continue our little conversation then. In the meantime I made my way towards the Canadian Appreciation Club. (Just don’t judge okay. We eat pancakes with maple syrup, wear comfortable clothes. And sing, toast marshmallows, while drinking coffee and looking at mountains. Yes that’s what we do.) But as I sat with some of my Canadian friends I suddenly remembered the letter I’d received earlier from Francis.

Quickly I opened it. What it said both peaked my interest, and made me feel slightly nervous.

_Matthew Jones,_

_Tonight meet me at the chemistry lab at 12. Please take with you Arthur Kirkland and Alfred Jones. It’s very important that you listen to these instructions. I trust you’ll be able to be of great assistance. If you refuse my invitation, the consequences are high for all of us._

There was no sender, no name. Nothing except those instructions. My hands started shaking as I took my phone out of my pocket. My marshmallow was dropped in the fire and melting away. But I didn’t care. Because something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here some stuff (again):
> 
> 1\. Chapter 10 will be out soon. ;)  
> 2\. Chapter 10 will also be the end of the first act of this story.  
> 3\. Why would Michelle need a tutor in French? Well... I like to think she is in fact Dyslectic. :$  
> 4\. YOU LIKE USUSK? Good new for you in the next chapter HONHONHONHON~  
> 5\. So we have Matthew, Alfred, Arthur, Francis and Ivan so far. I hope you guys love China. Because I love me some fine China. ;D  
> 6\. Last but not least. I got volume 5 of the Hetalia manga series! And I LOVE IT SO FAR.
> 
> I hope you wonderful people all stay awesome, where ever you may live!  
> We will meet again, and as we say in Dutch: Tot gauw! (See ya soon!)


	11. Chapter 10 - Alfred: A Frog, A Dragon And A Snow Queen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Waves nervously.* Heeeey... long time no see. Would you believe me, if I told you that I can explain? We will talk after this chapter...

_I don't like bullies, I don't care where they're from._ ~ Captain America

When my alarm went off I forced myself to stand up and dress quietly. When we had our club meeting, Matthew had addressed the fact that he'd gotten a letter. Arthur was convinced that the invitation was a trap. Matthew on the other hand thought the part about the consequences was enough reason to at least give the chemistry lab a quick look. And I agreed with Matthew. So two against one meant that were going on a secret mission. As I made my way to the door I prayed that Toris wouldn't notice my disappearance. On the other side I was met with a very moody Arthur and a very tense Matthew. Matthew's soft reply to my happy smile was a very bitchy: 'What took you so long?' I'd forgotten how soft he could talk. 'Sorry my bed didn't want to let me go. But I'm here now. So let's start operation Purple potato.' For a moment it was silent. It was Arthur who spoke up: 'I can't believe we are all so willing to use your ridiculous names all the time.' When he caught me staring he frowned. 'Why are you looking like that?' Maybe I was still sleepy, because I quickly looked away to hide my red face. 'Nothing, let's go.'

So now you must be thinking: How the hell do you guys go places without being noticed? Well when we we're younger we noticed that a lot of camera's have a blind spot. So usually we use those to our advantage. Also it's really easy to get into the main building. Arthur never handed over his keys after giving up working for the Student Council. So we use the backdoor. And since Matthew has the beautiful gift of invisibility we soon found our way through the building. As we walked towards the last hallway that would separate us from our goal I started feeling slightly nervous. Both Matthew and I stopped as we felt the temperature drop. 'Is it just me, or has someone opened a window?' Arthur let out a sigh. 'Odd, it's getting colder, but there are no windows open.' I guess I was really nervous because I took his hand. 'What if it's like some sort of Queen Elsa type of person. I seriously don't wanna build a snowman, if it's with a psychopath.' Matthew quickly threw away my ridiculous assumption.

We had to be at the chemistry lab at precisely 12 o'clock. And we were right on time. So you would think that we would storm the classroom like the FBI or something. Instead we stood in front of the door with hesitation. 'So, we're all gonna walk in together. Or does someone volunteer, or how do we do this?' Matthew volunteered to take a look of course. 'Let me sneak in first. If there's something dangerous waiting, we back off immediately.' He already started turning invisible. 'Alright then, but be careful.' He bit his lip again. 'We have nothing to worry about, it's not like the predator is waiting for us or something.' We both laughed awkwardly at that. Yeah, it was not like we were gonna die or something. Matthew opened the door slightly and disappeared. And for a few minutes it was completely silent. 'Art, are you okay?' I felt his hand squeeze my own to reassure me. It felt nice. 'I'm… okay. You?' I gave him my biggest grin as I clenched his hand tighter. 'Just a bit nervous.'

Suddenly Matthew's voice came from the other side of the door. 'Guys…' I had no idea what I would see on the other side. But the moment I heard Matthew's disturbed whispering voice I walked right in. The first thing I noticed were three guys standing in the middle of the room. The tallest one had white blonde hair, and wore a long winter coat, a white scarf and black gloves. He looked up startled and suddenly the floor was covered in ice. I almost slipped when my feet entered the room. After the shock of almost falling flat on my face disappeared I went into shock again. 'What the fuck.' Besides the tall guy stood a very familiar face. Arthur was the first to speak up about this. 'Francis? What are you doing here?' Immediately I tensed up. Was this really a trap? Francis smiled when we walked in. 'I told you they would be here. Don't underestimate my skills just yet.' He said to the big guy. For a second we just all stared at each other in confusion. 'So Matt was right, you're a mind reader.

Suddenly Francis let out a very sad sigh. 'Ah yes, I am indeed. But that's not important right now. Alfred you poor little soul, what are you even wearing? Do you call that the costume of a hero?' For a second I was completely confused. I'd put on some camouflage clothes and my old jacket. I felt as if I was dressed quite well for my first mission. He however was looking ridiculous. 'Speak for yourself dude, you look like you walked out of a wannabe-Zorro circus club.' He wore a long purple blue-ish coat, dark red pants, long black boots and a black Zorro mask that barley hid his face. 'You don't like it my American friend?' He clenched his heart as if in deep pain. 'You hang around with Arthur too much. Otherwise you wouldn't have tried to offend me so deeply. I can't help but to be disappointed.' Arthur's face slowly turned a funny shade of red. 'I swear to God. Changing the topic might work with Alfred but it won't with me. You better start talking.' Francis ignored him like usual and took a spin to show the weird clothes.

'Made them myself when I was locked up in my room. If you want to I can make something for you too!' He gave Arthur's old sweater and jeans a good look. 'You look terrible like usual my dear friend. Green is definitely your best colour. May I suggest…' 'Enough already!' We all looked up surprised. Besides the tall guy stood an Asian guy. He was small, had long black hair in a ponytail and a dragon mask covered his face. He put it off annoyed and gave us all an angry glare. It took me a second to realize who it was, but Arthur was already speaking. 'Yao?' The Chinese man looked like he was ready to punch something. 'I don't know what type of joke this is supposed to be. But is sucks.' So I'm not like the best person to introduce you to Yao Wang. But then again, so aren't Matthew and Arthur. Let just say he's like this guy in our class. And he usually hangs with people from his own country or from the Asian continent. He's friends with Kiku, I think. But I'm not sure, and in general he seems like a good guy. But we never really talked. Francis and he are in the same Gourmet Club. And Arthur and Yao used to have fights over who would teach this kid from Hong Kong the art of tea. Yes the art of tea, don't ask me why that is a thing.

Also Ivan is his stalker. But that's all I know. The tall guy was already patting Yao on the shoulders. 'I think Francis is not stupid enough for stupid jokes comrade. But I do wonder what is going on.' The guy had a very familiar accent. And I might look or act stupid, but I'm definitely not that thick-headed. 'Let me guess, you're the Commie aren't you?' Arthur replied on my remark with a sarcastic no shit Sherlock, before quickly pulling me back. Ivan's face slowly got a dark glance as the ice at our feet started getting a bit too spiky for my liking. 'I suggest you stop calling me a Commie, I wouldn't want to snap you.' I raised my hands in matter of peace. 'Wow chill dude. Oh wait, don't chill since that already seems to be your thing.' I took a deep breath myself. 'Just relax.' Yao also tensed up. 'They could be working with Plasma.' Ivan put of his hoodie and gave us all a very intense glare. 'Wouldn't surprise me. I say we get rid of them.' I'd never heard that one before. 'Wait, who's Plasma?' Matthew tried to speak up too, but everyone ignored him.

So I quickly repeated his words: 'And who of you wrote the letter anyways?' Francis stared at me with confusion before suddenly realisation hit him. 'I think I understand where this misunderstanding originated.' Yao was giving him a threatening look. 'I knew we shouldn't have trusted the mind reader. You lured us into this trap. I knew we couldn't trust you!' Francis quickly shook his head. 'I wouldn't lie. I promised you I would help right?' The room was getting colder with the minute. 'I was going to help you catch Plasma remember? That's the mission. I didn't know they would show up.' Francis pointed at us in an almost accusing way. Arthur of course didn't take it. 'Frog, don't you dare shove the blame on us. We were invited here for god knows why.' Francis interrupted him. 'I'm not blaming you. You know I'm on your side. I didn't tell you because you wouldn't believe me. You thought I was crazy right?' Had I missed an important part of the discussion? 'Wait a second. What are we talking about again? I'm not following!' Ivan commented to Yao that they should attack now, now that we were distracted. Matthew was mumbling about leaving as Francis and Arthur were in a heated debate. Most of us didn't follow it since Francis seemed to directly react on Arthur's thoughts. Yao shook his head with frustration. 'Never thought you would ever get involved.

But then again, you guys do seem to stick your nose in others people's businesses a lot.' Francis gave Yao an annoyed look. 'I told you they are no threat!' 'Stop bloody threating us like one then! How can we know that we can trust you?' 'Guys… please listen…?' 'Wow chill people, it's gonna be all good. Just relax!' 'Maybe I should break your spine first?' That last comment made everyone quiet. We all turned to Ivan who was smiling like he was attending a tea party. I could see my own breathe. 'Just out of curiosity. How do you manipulate the air temperature and create solid ice out of nowhere?' When Ivan stayed silent I looked at Francis. 'Why are you looking at me?' I raised my shoulders. 'Dunno, thought you might read his mind for me.' Francis laughed. 'Do I look like I speak Russian?' Arthur held back a grin as he added: 'Does he look like he can use his brain to begin with?' Matthew tried obviously not to stress out, but I noticed that most of his fingers had disappeared. 'Guys really? We are in a serious situation right now. And from all times you could do this. You decide that right now is the best moment to keep this discussion?' Before he could even finish that sentence Ivan walked towards me, took me by the collar and held me up.

Let me tell you: That hurts… A lot. Yao tried to pull his ally back. 'Ivan stop that. We need to go. We can take them out later. They're probably decoy. Plasma is getting away!' Arthur slowly took a few steps towards us. His eyes started glowing green, and he was holding that old stuffy book again. 'You should leave indeed. Let Alfred go you bloody bloke.' It didn't seem like a very smart move, but I'd never seen Arthur so angry. In the mean time I tried to free myself. With a bit of trouble I succeeded. Matthew was holding up his hand and asking me how many fingers I saw. Francis was asking Ivan what he'd been thinking to do such thing. And Yao's eyes got a weird yellow color as he commented that they were leaving. 'Don't go yet. Why are you guys chasing this Plasma guy?!' Yao gave me a dark look before he commented: 'He's dangerous. And you were fools to think you could trust him. Seriously? I didn't even know who this guy was but okay. It was when someone at the door spoke up that everything grew silent.

'What's going on here?' Everyone turned their heads. Three people were standing there. The boy who'd spoken up had a thick southern accent. He wore the male uniform and a black mask covered his entire face except for his mouth and eyes. His hair was dark shade of brown, and he looked around carefully. The girl next to him was very small. She was dressed in red and black, had very light blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail and a white mask covered her entire face. She had cold blue eyes. 'Well this was unexpected.' Her voice was muffled, but she had a very thick accent. 'Indeed.' The third boy reacted. He was average of height. He wore hoodie that covered his face in combination with his long black curly hair. Around his neck was a pair of headphones, he was listening to Maroon 5. Yao started growling and he stepped away from Francis and towards the three newcomers. Shit where had that sound come from?! The first boy (who I assumed was Plasma) clapped his hands together as if in joy.

'We finally found you General! And your little pet is here too, what a joyous day!' His voice was oddly enough very calm and emotionless. He walked in as if he owned the place too. 'Are these your new little friends?' He looked at Arthur with interest. 'Mister Kirkland, it's quite a surprise to see you here. But I could've expected it. Once part of the Student Council, always part of the Student Council I guess.' Arthur stood up so he was face to face with the unknown boy. 'It's rude to not introduce yourself you know.' With those words he tried to hit the guy. But suddenly a shining net held him back. 'Arthur!' I quickly made my way towards him. He seemed unharmed. 'Sorry for that mister Kirkland. That was my force field. I always keep one around in case people like you decide that they want to smash my head in.' The boy with the hoodie grinned. 'Well you should give him credit Plasma. A proper introduction is the least we can do.' He raised his hand in ways of greeting. 'The name's Howler. My thing is sound vibrations. Nice to meet all of you. This guy with the force field is Plasma. And this girl here…' He couldn't finish his sentence because Yao was already trying to attack him. Did I mention he's like the new karate kid?

The girl did a step forward, and stared with a scary intensity at Yao. The Chinese man immediately fell on the ground and started screaming in pain. When she finally looked away the torture seemed to stop. Plasma was scolding Howler for telling his power. Howler cut the conversation short by turning to us. 'Anyways, it's rude not to let someone finish their sentence you know. So what I was saying, this lovely girl we like to call Bloody Mary. In her case looks will probably kill you.' I'd been lost in words until now. 'What do you want?' Plasma turned to me, and amused grin formed on his face. 'Alfred Jones?' He walked towards me, confident, not afraid to get hurt because of his force field. He looked at Matthew in the corner. 'Matthew Jones is here too.' When he saw Francis he frowned. 'Don't know who you are tough.' Francis quickly responded. 'I'm Mister Right.' Plasma nodded. 'Nice to meet ya.' He turned back to Ivan and me. 'So General Winter, these are your allies? A delusional hero, The Dragon, a grumpy British boy, and a guy named Mister Right?' He didn't sound very impressed.

Matthew made a sound that suggested he was forgotten. But my focus was on the guy in front of me. 'So you guys are like what, the villains?' Probably a very stupid question. But at least it was a clear one. 'Villains? What do you think this is? A comic book?' Plasma's grin disappeared and Howler shook his head as if disappointed. 'There are only our interests, and yours.' He pointed at Yao and Ivan. 'Those two have been terrorizing the school grounds for a while. You could compare them to dictators.' Yao shouted something in Chinese which was probably extremely offending. 'We think it's time that they're put back where they belong. So you might not think it now, but I bet we will be future allies.' As Plasma was talking Howler was walking around Francis and Matthew over and over again. He seemed fascinated by something. 'Alfred the thing is: Once these two have used you, they will throw you away. They will not stop until they've made you disappear, just like they did with others that were like us.' I felt as if something got stuck in my throat. I turned to look at Arthur. He wore the same confused expression. 'You mean there are more of us? How many?' These were the people that might be able to give us the answers we needed. And maybe Francis recognized that curiosity, because he slowly shook his head. 'You have no idea don't you?'

Bloody Mary seemed a bit shocked. Her voice was difficult to understand because of her dress up. 'Plasma…' it was Ivan who spoke up. His voice was stern. He immediately got interrupted by Howler who told him to shut it. 'They come and go Alfred. Usually they need help, they're scared.' He nodded at Howler and Bloody Mary. 'We just want to help them.' A part of me wanted to believe him. It really wanted to think that these guys really meant well. And it was easy to think that both Ivan and Yao were the bad guys in this situation. That's when I remembered how they didn't hesitate to hurt. Sure Yao and Ivan weren't the best either, and Arthur also had some anger issues. But I knew them, they wouldn't hurt anyone out of enjoyment.

These people were different. They were not scared. They were confident and Plasma definitely had the eyes of maniac. 'Alfred, I know we've never been on very good terms or anything. But please trust me when I say: These guys are lying and many messed up things have happened because of them.' Yao said as he his serious expression made place for slight panic. Ivan nodded in agreement. 'Why else you'd think I'd gotten involved. You know me longer than today.' How could I know who was lying? I couldn't help but the turn to Francis. If Francis could read minds, then he would probably not have trouble reading mine right? Francis snorted. 'Trust me Alfred. I can read you alright.' I raised my eyebrows at him. Well I guess I didn't need to say anything more since Mister Right had everything under control. Francis slowly let out an annoyed protests. 'Don't be so rude. You have been hanging around Arthur too much lately.' The three people across from us were very confused and completely caught off guard. 'The truth is Alfred. I cannot help you. I put my faith in the General and the Dragon because they showed me mercy.' Francis suddenly became quiet as he looked at the unknown trio in front of us. 'I do know something else that might help you.' The trio was still looking at us in confusion, so Francis took his chance. 'Howler's real name is George de Bakker. Plasma is Jimmy Stones. And Bloody Mary is…' before he could say anything else Howler's music got extremely loud and we all got smashed against the wall. You could say that this information helped me out. Jimmy Stones. Who I'd played basketball with when still on the school's team. Jimmy Stones. Who had lived his entire life in Kansas before suddenly going to the Academy.

Jimmy Stones. A guy that I trusted, who I considered one of my few American friends. I knew him alright. He could easily lie, had a few issues and was known on the sport field for being violent. Yet he was also one of the better guys I knew. Ivan reacted quickest to the sudden attack. He tapped his feet on the ground, but while Plasma's feet did manage to get stuck in ice, so did Francis and Yao. I was still trying to get rid of my dizzy head when I heard Yao mutter: 'There we go again…' I didn't understand what he meant by that. That's when he transformed into eagle, and tried to claw Howler's eyes out. Well apparently that was his thing. Not much surprises me anymore. The loud sound vibrations immediately stopped as Howler got distracted. Mary immediately started paralyzing both Francis and Yao. Eagle-Yao fell down and changed into a horse and tried to kick her. Arthur and Ivan got smashed against the wall by Howler (who had a deep cut in his face because of eagle-Yao) and Matthew was nowhere in sight. (I should admit that I'm not a big fan for unnecessary violence.) 'Matt?' I looked around in panic. What if he got hurt? Or even worse? I was so distracted that I didn't notice someone sneak up to me. I got smashed into the ground by a sudden force. It was Plasma's force field. 'If you're not with us, then you're against us.' His voice was suddenly extremely calm.

'Jimmy please. It's me Alfred. Please don't do this.' He slowly made his way towards me. His grey eyes slowly blinked. 'Give me a good reason why not.' The force field seemed to tighten around my throat. I tried to breathe, but found I couldn't. 'Jimmy we played basketball together. You don't wanna hurt me. You're better than this man.' For a second he seemed to hesitate. Around us a crazy type of chaos seemed to occur. Matthew had appeared and gave Bloody Mary a good hit on the head, making her go unconscious. Francis lay knocked out in the corner and Ivan and Arthur closed in on Howler. 'We're friends Jimmy. We play for the same team. Don't make mistakes you'll regret later on.' I could breathe again. His hand suddenly slung at his side as he looked at me. 'Alfred.' He was scared. I'm not a mind reader. But knowing Jimmy, I knew he was. My throat hurt like hell as I spoke. 'I know, there are weird things happening. And you think you'll have to make decisions. But you don't have to. We're all in this together.' I held out my hand. For a second his hand seemed to move. As if he was ready to be honest with himself. But suddenly something cold washed over him.

'I'm sorry Jones.' With those words I got strangled violently. My hands went to my throat in reflex. But the force field was impossible to remove. 'If I let you go, those guys will come for me. I told you we're all in trouble. They will do the same thing to us as they did with the others…' I started seeing black dots in my field of vision. 'So I'm sorry it had to go this way.' Oh it's cool man, all things forgiven, wanna play catch? So yeah that was no my reaction because I was moving around like a fish on land. Suddenly Yao sneaked up behind him like a ninja and kicked the hell out of Plasma's face. Immediately the pressure disappeared and I could breathe again. 'Jones, are you alright?' I tried to stand up to show that I felt great. But I fell down immediately. 'I'm good. Just… give me sec.' Suddenly a loud scream made the world move. Howler had opened his mouth to let out some sort of crazy sonic scream. My ears were hurting like hell and Matthew, Yao and a still unconscious Francis got smacked against the walls.

Arthur had put up a glowing barrier that protected both him and Ivan against the sonic scream. I started to understand why they called that guy The Howler. I stood up with a bit of difficulty. 'Guys you okay?' Yao mumbled something about his back, and Matthew who looked extremely pissed slowly stood up. 'I feel great.' He clapped his hands together and a light trembling went through the air. 'Alfred, let's take this fucker down.' Ha, easier said then done. I was exhausted. Arthur's barrier broke and the moment Ivan hit the floor it started freezing. Howler looked at Arthur with amusement. The British dude looked tired. He looked ready to give up. But he surprised everyone when he started speaking in gibberish. And really, it really was gibberish. After he was done a moment of silence fell. When nothing happened I looked around for anything weird. Whatever his plan had been, there was one good thing that came out of it. Howler was speechless. He soon started laughing but before he could make a snarky remark Arthur smirked. He raised his hand and an explosive sound filled the room. Something that looked like sonic blast came from his hand and Howler was so surprised that he got smashed against the floor. But he got caught in a force field-like net. I turned to the place where Plasma had laid, but he was gone.

Yao was also nowhere to be found. 'Nice catch.' Howler commented as Plasma pulled him out of the net. Plasma's nose was experiencing heavy bleeding. But he was choosing to ignore it. 'No prob.' Matthew suddenly stood beside me and whispered. 'How do we take them out? If we let them go who knows what they'll do? We have to make sure they don't hurt anyone.' I agreed with him. But before I could even come up with a good plan Arthur was getting suffocated by the force field. And suddenly my mind went back to basics. Smash. My feet started moving before I could rethink my plan. Wait, did I even have a plan? I don't think so… My hands became fists without any trouble. I heard Matthew's protests but didn't care. Suddenly Yao backed me up. Like some sort off Ant-Man he grew from the seize of an insect to a human in a matter of seconds. 'I'll take the loud one.' He simply stated. I was fine with that idea. Plasma saw me from miles away, and suddenly I was stuck. I tried to move to the left but was met with a wall, I checked every corner but soon discovered I was stuck in a cube. 'Nice try.' Plasma stated as his left hand kept me locked up while his other tried to get Arthur to stop breathing. I tried not to smile as Matthew suddenly appeared behind Plasma and gave him a good head butt. Sadly he wasn't out yet.

Arthur gasped as he fell down, and immediately I made my way to him. 'Are you okay? How many fingers am I holding up?' Arthur frowned as he looked from me to Matthew. 'There three of you? How's that possible?' Oh gosh he really was out. Ivan suggested he would hit Arthur with a metal pipe he'd ripped out of the wall, but both Matthew and I quickly declined that idea. Howler and Plasma approached us at a very quick pace. Howler had taken out Yao, who lay in the corner of the room. Francis quickly made his way towards the knocked out Chinese. I had no idea how we could win this. Howler and Plasma were far more experienced. Ivan seemed clumsy with his powers, and both Matthew and I were not experienced enough to- 'Do you people have any idea how late it is?' Before we could let out a dramatic gasp Howler and Plasma were taken out by a tiger. The yellow eyes that looked at us with intelligence belonged to Yao. The person in the door opening looked very grumpy and frustrated. 'Mister Wang, please do not kill your fellow students. I do not allow such behaviour at these school grounds.' The woman walking in looked extremely familiar. She had a thick English accent, weird but familiar eyebrows and intense eyes that were even scarier than those of Bloody Mary. Yao slowly let go of the two students in confusion. It was Miss Kirkland. And there's more!

Next to her stood Mister Vadas. You know the gym teacher that hates us? Well as he gave us all a good look I knew that we were very, very, very fucked. 'So who of you would like to volunteer to explain what you were doing outside your dorm rooms at this hour?' Yao changed back into his human form. The ice around us melted and disappeared and the temperature went back to normal. I wanted to say something. But suddenly I noticed that I felt heavier. I felt extremely heavy, like I was carrying heavy metal bars around. I couldn't keep myself standing and fell on my knees. 'Mister Jones, I knew you were trouble. Not used to being like us regular humans?' Francis looked confused from Miss Kirkland to Mister Vadas. 'I can't… What's going on?' Howler too was mumbling confused as he was snapping his fingers. But whatever he wanted to happen, I didn't go as planned. 'You can stop that Mister de Bakker. All of your abilities are neutralized with thanks to Mister Vadas. And you won't be getting them back any time soon.' Miss Kirkland said as she walked towards Arthur and helped him stand up straight. He looked at her confused. 'Mum? What the…?'

He didn't finish his words as suddenly a bright purple glow surrounded them and he was suddenly able to stand up straight again. 'How did you?' Matthew had stopped his attempts of helping me on my feet and instead pointed at Miss Kirkland. 'You… That's something Arthur can do! Explain yourself.' Ivan was holding the metal pipe with a look that came close to threatening. Mister Vadas seemed to lose his cool. 'All of you shut up and stand in line!' When nobody moved he gave Miss Kirkland a look. She nodded and with a flick of the wrist we all stood in line. The moment the weird sensation that had moved my body disappeared, I lost control over my legs again and I fell flat on my face.

'Here is the thing folks! You've blatantly ignored school rules, attacked your fellow students and have been using your abilities for the worst. You will all come to a talk tomorrow. In which we will discuss your punishment. The SA Program is not here for your amusement you understand?!' He pointed at Yao, Ivan, Howler and Plasma. 'You especially will have a special talk with me. Your powers will be deactivated until your punishment is over.' Miss Kirkland walked over to the two rogues and snapped her fingers. Purple mist appeared around them. Suddenly all emotions left their faces and the mist vanished. They blinked looked around confused and then slowly left the room without saying a word. 'Mister Wang and Braginsky. I hope you realize the damage that you have created?' Miss Kirkland gave the two boys a good look.

Ivan simply looked down. Yao let out a deep sigh. 'Just get it over with.' Miss Kirkland didn't seem taken back. She snapped her fingers, and both Yao and Ivan slowly left the room. Dreamy expressions could be found on their faces. Before Ivan left the room he dropped the pipe. Before anything could be said Miss Kirkland looked at Bloody Mary who was regaining conscious. 'Miss Arlovskaya. You and your brother should have a talk tomorrow. Understood?' Slowly the girl removed her mask to reveal the face of- 'Natalya?' I couldn't hide my surprise. Natalya Arlovskaya, Ivan's little sister. The psychopath that my roommate Toris has a crush on. As she revealed her doll-like face, I felt as if I'd been right all along about her. It surprised me a bit that her face looked so sad. 'Yes ma'am.'

Miss Kirkland's face softened a bit. 'I'm sure your brother will forgive you. But for now you'll receive the same punishment as your friends.' She snapped her finger and Natalya left the room without looking back. It was then that she turned to us. 'Mister Bonnefoy, the Jones brother and my own son.' Mister Vadas stood in the background and looked ready to give the angriest speech of his life. But before anything could be said Arthur spoke up: 'I have so many questions.' Francis kept back a laugh. 'Well you're not the only one.' Mister Vadas gave the room a good look. 'We'll have to fix this mess before the headmaster sees it.' Miss Kirkland let out a sigh. 'Very well then.' Suddenly she was holding Arthur's old book. 'You have the same book? How is this possible?' Arthur looked shocked.

When Miss Kirkland had restored the room she looked at her son with concerned eyes. 'I'm sorry you had to discover it like this. But I promise things will get clear tomorrow. Arthur shook his head, his eyebrows furrowed together in an angry frown. 'There is not a single scenario of this in which I'll let my memory get erased.' He looked incredibly hurt. I managed to sit up straight. I wanted to comfort him but was bit too busy with not getting crushed by gravity. 'Sir? Could you please give back my flying ability? Or the strength thing? I don't mind which one. But I can't move around like this' My cells which were extremely light had become heavy again without the ability of flight. I had to get used to the normal gravity weight pressing down on me. Mister Vadas gave me a good look. 'Nah, I'm sure you brother can drag you to your room without any trouble.'

Miss Kirkland moved her hand in ways of showing she was going to Men-In-Black flash us. But Arthur quickly stopped her. 'Please don't. Just tell us what's going on.' Matthew helped me stand up straight. 'Tomorrow dear, things will become clear to all of you tomorrow.' She snapped her fingers, and when I woke up, I had a terrible headache and a message from Arthur.

 **Arthur:** _How are you feeling?_ 9:35

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Yao Wang = China  
> 2\. The side-villians are OC (Own Characters). Not important.  
> 3\. Alright let's go to the explaining part: So around March/April I promised to update real soon. Then I tried to post this chapter, BUT THE SITE SHUT DOWN. I got angry, and continued writing and sort off forgot... to update...  
> 4\. I'm a idiot I know.  
> 5\. Also I promised USUK, but there was none. SORRY. In the rewriting a lot was cut off. So maybe in future chapters? I think this story will have around 20/25 chapters. So 15 to go!  
> Thank you for reading like always! I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you around. Stay awesome, and if you feel like it: Leave a review down below. ;)  
> ~ Suus_Arido


	12. Chapter 11 - Matthew: Ball In Your Court

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... Backstreets back? ANYWAYS, how are all of you wonderful people doing? It's been a while hasn't it? Well I hope this chapter won't disappoint. And if it does, please explain what feels off! I have very good excuses as to why it took some time, if you feel like it, you can read those down below. Also: A important announcement down below!

_But you don’t look inside you see, To you it’s not apparent._ ~ The Invisible Half, Part IV

Hey, sorry to bother you… again. My brother just barged into my room and threw the recorder to my head. He demanded that I would start this time. Apparently Arthur is sick, and Alfred (the personification of impatience) doesn’t want to wait for him to get better. So he’s all like: _Dude you wanna start this time? Artie is sick as hell. You would tell it better anyway. Wanna do it? Awesomesauce smell you later bro!_ That was a terrible Alfred-impression. I know. _Anyway,_ so now I’m forced to do a recap.

Let’s just keep it short, I have homework to do: Alfred and I got nasty powers out of nowhere. We were like: Oh we should keep this a secret! The school threw a party, and everything seemed to go relatively well. That was until a plane crashed. Luckily everyone got away safely. Alfred and I managed to do so with our new powers. We also discovered Arthur was like us. Alfred fell into a comatose, and when he woke up everything seemed all sunshine and roses. But soon Francis became a suspect of mind-reading.

That’s when things escalated again. We got a letter that lured us to the chemistry lab. And here we met Yao and Ivan (and Francis), who also turned out to have powers. We got attacked by three rogue students, and got saved by Miss Kirkland and Mister Vadas. They had a lot of explaining to do.

I guess that’s it. So let’s just continue where we left of:

‘WAKE UP YOU LITTLE DIPSHIT.’ I assumed it was Alfred who was yelling in my face. Because he is always very creative in the way he wakes me up. This one time, he ran in my room, pulled me out of bed and screamed that the house was on fire. And this other time he told me that that my teddy bear had disappeared. (I’m a young adult, I don’t sleep with it anymore. I stuffed it into my closet).

The worst was when he filmed me while Uncle Davie poured a bucket with ice over me. I’d been sleeping peacefully when suddenly I woke up screaming. I got so angry that I almost considered killing him. It’s still on YouTube, it has over 10.000 views. So when suddenly someone yelled in my ear, I just naturally assumed it was Alfred.

My eyes flew open immediately and I looked around. ‘Alfred what-’ Mister Vadas gave me an impatient glare. ‘Good morning to you too, Mister Jones.’ I was confused, why was Mister Vadas here? Had I blacked out during training? Judging by my headache, and the scenery, this _could_ be an option. ‘Good morning sir.’ Alfred was sitting in the left corner of the room, he was texting someone. When he saw me he smiled. ‘Good morning Maple Flower.’ Francis was sitting on the chair across from Mister Vadas’ desk. ‘Finally you’re awake, we’ve been waiting for quite some time.’

Seeing him, wearing ridiculous red pants made me remember everything. ‘How… what?’ Mister Vadas pulled me up from the ground. ‘Take a seat boy, same goes for your brother.’ Alfred rolled his eyes. ‘Yeah sure, I’m just gonna stand up because that ain’t no problem.’ Mister Vadas ignored him. He turned to me, his stern voice got softer, as if he was trying to sound friendly. ‘Matthew, tell you brother to stop acting like an idiot.’

‘Uhm Alfred?’ He ignored me and kept texting. ‘Alfred don’t be a douche… please.’ This made Francis laugh. ‘Maybe you should help him out Mathieu. Alfred is struggling even sitting up straight.’ Francis said, amusement still clear on his face. I remembered that last night he’d been struggling with his own weight. I tried to pull Alfred up, he was heavy but it wasn’t impossible. Once I’d gotten him on his legs I wanted to let go but he protested. ‘I’m still not completely used to the weight of my own body. Just put me on the chair over there and it’s going to be fine.’ I dragged him to the spot, put him down, and immediately noticed that Arthur, Ivan and Yao had walked in.

Yao only greeted us half heartily, he looked tired. Ivan just kept quiet. Arthur on the other hand: ‘I’m here. Where’s Alfred?’ Something in his facial expression was odd. He quickly scanned the room. His face was holding the usual stern look. That was until he saw Alfred. Slowly his face relaxed and happiness was radiating of him. Arthur is always so extreme with every emotion he experiences. It must be exhausting. Francis raised his eyebrows. ‘Good to see you too dear friend. I’m so glad you were worried about us.’ Sarcasm dripped from his words, it almost made me laugh. Almost.

Arthur looked only slightly annoyed. ‘Please, you and I both now that frogs are hard to kill.’ He quickly checked if I was hurt and then proceeded to check Alfred. Completely ignoring the French man. ‘You sure do look happy, I don’t have to be a mind reader to know…’ Before the "oh so fun" conversation could become any friendlier, Mister Vadas requested us to sit down and be quiet.

‘Alright I assume you three just came back from Miss Kirkland?’ Ivan nodded. No wonder they looked so annoyed. An angry Miss Kirkland, is automatically a scary Miss Kirkland. ‘Good. Well, now that you little fuckers are here, let’s get this started.’ Ivan, Yao and Arthur quickly sat down, and Mister Vadas all gave us his evil eye. ‘You’re not here for a tea party ladies. You’re here because you violated protocol number 2 from the SA Program.’ Francis’ face quickly went sour, his dark blue eyes quickly looked as me as if to say: _I hate this guy_.

‘You Mister Bonnefoy also violated ruled number 3, misuse of your powers. You can stare at me all you want, you’re not getting your ability back any time soon.’ He nodded at Yao and Ivan. ‘Same goes for you.’ Mister Vadas pointed at all of us. ‘Before I can punish you, I will first have to explain what you did wrong, and why it is wrong. Since Mister Wang and Braginsky are the only ones of you pussies who are actually registered.’

Someone was knocking on the door. Mister Vadas quickly looked up. ‘Who’s it?’ The door opened to reveal two men. The guy who walked in first was deputy-headmaster Mister Beilschmidt. He was wearing a grey suit, his long blond hair was in a ponytail. And he gave us an indifferent look. He had the same scary blue eyes as his grandson Ludwig. The second guy who walked in was definitely not a morning person.

His brown curly hair was a gigantic mess and he looked incredibly sleepy. He wore a neat suit, and for some reason a pair of sandals with bright yellow socks. His brown eyes took us in quickly before he addressed Mister Vadas. ‘Good morning Daniel, do please tell me how you do this every morning. I’m honestly dying here. The only things awake at this hour should be the dead.’ The man was obviously a chatterer and his Italian accent and big hand movements didn’t help much. Mister Beilschmidt quickly stopped the man from talking any further.

‘You’re even more annoying in the morning. Sit down Vargas.’ That last name of course rang a bell. The brothers Feliciano and Lovino (two classmates of us) are the grandsons of the headmaster. A man named Romulus Vargas who I’d never really met in person. This must be him then. ‘I hope we don’t interrupt you Daniel. But since your first class will start soon we thought maybe we could handle them for you?’ Mister Beilschmidt explained, his tone friendly but his angry eyes still focused on Mister Vargas.

Alfred in the meantime snickered at the discovery of our PE teacher’s first name. Mister Vadas frowned slightly. ‘Oh right, I’d forgotten about that. Well why not? You two are probably more believable anyway.’ Mister Vadas was starting to pack his stuff when suddenly he spoke up: ‘Romulus, I thought you were still on business in Rome?’ Headmaster Vargas grinned. He quickly scratched his unshaven face.

‘I sure do love returning home. But no, I took the plane back yesterday. After I heard about the incident… I decided it became time for some drastic actions.’ Mister Vadas nodded in agreement. ‘These kids have made a lot of trouble. I’ve decided that they will be at least 3 weeks without powers.’ Nikolaus and Romulus both gave us a quick glance. The latter didn’t look away. ‘Well that sounds reasonable. We will speak you later.’ Mister Beilschmidt said.

They said their goodbyes and the PE teacher left in a hurry. Once the door closed Mister Vargas made himself comfortable on the desk. ‘My name is Headmaster Romulus Vargas, as you might now. Please call me Romulus. So you were the kids who decided to kick ass?’ Mister Beilschmidt hissed. ‘Don’t reward their behaviour.’

‘What? I’m not lying! For a group of newbies they sure as hell gave quite the show!’ Mister Beilschmidt smacked the headmaster on his head. Francis shook his head. ‘If I may speak? I would like to defend our cause.’ He showed his most charismatic smile. The one he uses to convince our French teacher to not give any homework. ‘It is true that Ivan, Yao and I were planning on stopping Jimmy Stones and his friends. But the interference of Alfred, Matthew and Arthur was purely coincidence.’

What was Francis doing? ‘They had nothing to do with this. And I hope you understand that they do not deserve severe punishment.’ Yao nodded in agreement, although his expression was that of an angry old man. Yao elbowed Ivan in the ribs when he noticed that the Russian had fallen asleep. Quickly he looked up. ‘Ah yes indeed. What he said.’

Mister Vargas took Arthur, Alfred and me in with interest. ‘Well I’ll consider it. But first I would like for all of you to tell what happened.’ Nobody said anything. ‘Don’t worry I don’t bite! Nikolaus over here might but I won’t.’

Yao started to reluctantly tell what happened. The rest of us sometimes added other information. But I kept quiet. When they were done Mister Beilschmidt nodded. ‘I see. Thank you for sharing the story. We can partly see that this is not entirely your fault. And your punishments will definitely be reconsidered.’

Alfred let out a cough. Everyone turned to him. ‘Sorry to interrupt and all. I’m fine with the whole punishment thing, really that doesn’t bother me. But what does bother me is the secrecy. I just have a ton of questions. And I’m quite happy to discuss all the problems that we caused.’ He turned to me. ‘But honestly Matthew, can you tell me what’s going on?’

He turned to Francis and Arthur. ‘Can you dudes give me some answers? Because so far, we’ve been ordered around by everyone. Including Yao and Ivan. Yet they refuse to give us any information as to why.’ Sometimes Alfred can be really smart.

What he said was of course true. Everyone was constantly holding onto our collars like we were their pets. ‘I agree Alfred. Could we at least have some of our questions answered? It wouldn’t be too much trouble right?’ I looked at a snoring Ivan. ‘Beside some of us already seem to know a lot.’ Nikolaus had taken place on Mister Vadas’ chair.

‘Of course, you have all rights. I was actually planning on explaining before you interrupted me Mister Jones.’ The headmaster seemed quite amused by it all. ‘Very well, let’s have a little story then!’ He pointed at us, his face suddenly very serious. ‘I hope you’re all ready for some serious stuff. Please pay close attention. We will only do this once.’ As I saw Headmaster Romulus running around with excitement I was slightly confused.

I understood why Mister Beilschmidt was in charge. He seemed like a responsible and smart guy. But Mister Vargas seemed far too childish and laid-back to be leading the school. Nikolaus took a breath and closed his eyes. ‘I would like to request that all of you close your eyes too.’ We all looked at each other hesitantly. ‘Don’t worry. It’s gonna be fine.’ Mister Vargas assured as. Yao had already closed his eyes he looked tense. Ivan had fallen asleep. Francis looked sceptic but slowly closed his eyes too. He was followed by Arthur.

Alfred gave me a quick glance before also closing his eyes. It became quiet, Romulus smiled at me. ‘Go ahead.’ He didn’t really assure me. But I decided to just… go with it. Reluctantly I closed my eyes. Ever closed them so hard you started seeing swirling colours and forms? Well it was like that, but worse. Because one moment, everything fell quiet. And the next moment I opened my eyes and was in the midst of what looked like a really big tent.

Cold wind blew in from the opening, and for a second I was disorientated. The tent had a red colour and in the middle of the room laid a big map. It looked like the map from Risk. Outside a lot of commotion seemed to be going on. ‘Where are we?’ Mister Vargas suddenly stood next to me. ‘Sir?’ He ignored me. He looked odd. He wore the amour of a Roman soldier. His face was stern, without his suit he looked like a strong and intimidating man.

Romulus was speaking in an odd language. But somehow I could figure out he wasn’t happy. He spoke to a man who was looking at the map. When he looked up, I met two scary blue eyes. Mister Beilschmidt. He answered calmly, he didn’t look like he wanted to fight Romulus. Yet his hand was on his sword, waiting to be used. He looked like he’d jumped out of a history book. I took a step back, confused about what was happening. I bumped into Alfred. ‘Dude, do you know what’s happening?’

I wish I knew. Everyone was standing in the corner. Mister Vargas and Mister Beilschmidt were both still wearing their suits. Mister Beilschmidt still had his eyes closed. He looked concentrated. ‘Don’t worry this is an illusion. In reality you’re all still in Mister Vadas his office.’ The real Mister Vargas spoke up.

I turned to look at the soldier, and then turned back to Mister Vargas. ‘You two are identical.’ Yao didn’t seem fazed by the situation. Arthur looked around fascinated. Francis kept rubbing his eyes, probably thinking he was just seeing things. And Ivan was sleeping on the ground, not paying attention to the situation at all.

‘This almost looks like a set from a movie.’ Alfred commented. He tried to poke the illusion of Mister Vargas but failed to touch anything. It annoyed me that I got ignored. ‘Those two look identical to you and Mister Beilschmidt. Why is that?’ This time Mister Vargas his brown eyes focus on me. ‘They are not identical to us. _They are us_.’

Francis was the first to speak up. ‘What year is this?’ Nobody answered. ‘It’s the 3th century. During the Migration Period of the Germanic tribes.’ Yao finally spoke up. We all gave him a confused look except for Mister Vargas and Arthur. ‘You know, when they had to run from the Huns and crossed into Roman territory?’

When we all kept staring at him, his face started getting red. He shouted something in Chinese and shook his head. ‘I can’t believe you guys. Did you ever pay attention during history?’ I feel a bit annoyed. We can’t all be walking libraries.

He looked at Mister Vargas for approval. ‘Did I remember it correctly this time?’ Mister Vargas corrected him: ‘Actually it was the 4th century but you were close enough. You are getting the hang of it.’ Francis shook his head.

‘Let’s just go back for a few seconds.’ He looked from illusion-Romulus, to the real one. ‘So you’re saying that you were alive during the 4th century?’ Mister Vargas simply smiled. ‘That’s impossible. You can’t live that long. You should already be dead.’ I hummed in agreement. Alfred shook his head. ‘You can’t still be walking around if you lived so many years ago. You’re crazy!’ He turned to Arthur. In the hope that the English man would agree. But he kept quiet. As if he had peace with the situation.

‘You are right. It is impossible to live for such a long time. But I am not normal, neither are you.’ He walked to his doppelganger, nostalgia was written all over his face. ‘I am immortal. You can stab me, but I will heal. You can stop my heart, but it will start beating again. I cannot die. And I’ll probably never will.’ He turned to the doppelganger of Mister Beilschmidt who seemed slightly aggressive. ‘Same goes for him. We’ve been fighting for such a long time.’

We all kept quiet. But then Alfred’s big blue eyes looked around curiously and he broke the silence with a simple question: ‘Is Mister Beilschmidt taking a nap or something?’ ‘He’s creating this illusion for us. He needs to concentrate very hard, so don’t bother him.’ Mister Vargas answered. I studied his face. He looked around in his mid-thirties, maybe even older.

I tried to comprehend his immortality. ‘So if you are immortal, and you have lived for so many years, what does this have to do with the school? With the SA Program?’ Mister Vargas looked at Yao, as if expecting that he would say something. ‘You want me to tell?’ He asked. ‘I’m a bit lazy.’ Mister Vargas simply stated.

Yao quickly fixed his hair. ‘Very well then, but I’ll only tell it once. So keep quiet until I’m done!’ He warned us. We all kept quiet, although Alfred was looking a bit more excited than usual. I didn’t feel his excitement at all.

‘Mister Vargas found out he was immortal when he died during the battle at Alesia. A battle which was very important to the future career of Julius Caesar. When he woke up, people proclaimed he’d been blessed by the Roman gods. And he became a very important man. At some point he battled a Germanic tribe. Here he fought Nikolaus Beilschmidt for the first time. A man who, just like him, was blessed with powers from what they believed was the gods.’ Mister Vargas from the past angrily pointed at the map.

Mister Beilschmidt simply waved his hand as if the map wasn’t important. ‘They were at war, and did things to the other which were unacceptable. And for years to follow they would be arch nemesis. But during the Migration Period everything changed. Most Germanic tribes wanted to live in peace, and deals were made between the tribes and the Roman Empire. They became allies. After that, the two men were forced to work together. But soon Mister Beilschmidt betrayed him, and for years to come they would fight in many wars, for many causes.’

Mister Vargas had been walking around the room but suddenly looked up when Yao struggled to remember the rest. ‘After that I served my country for many years. Italy stayed my home throughout the centuries. But I felt like I had no purpose.’ Yao nodded as he remembered. ‘Ah yes.’ Suddenly the scenery changed. ‘Where are we?’ I looked confused at the small cottage before us.

‘It was the Second World War, and I was doing some important business in Germany. It’s here that I met a very special woman. One who could do very special things.’ A woman walked out of the cottage. In her arms she held a baby. We all looked at Mister Vargas, when he understood our implication he shook his head. ‘No it wasn’t like that. It was never more than friendship. She told me that in her family, everyone could do things that should be impossible. And I remembered that throughout my long life, I had indeed met people who were very special, like me.’

The woman had curly brown hair, and rosy cheeks. ‘What happened to her?’ Arthur asked, he slowly walked closer to have a closer look at the baby. Alfred however looked at something differently. ‘I think I know what happened.’ He stated, tension visible in his voice. A car was driving towards her doorsteps, and stopped right in front of her.

A man wearing a uniform stepped out. He was a Nazi. ‘Inge her father was a Jew. She was put on the train, and instead of a quick dead… they figured out she was different. And they experimented on her. They… destroyed her.’ The scene was slowly fading away, making place for a graveyard. Mister Vargas still looked the same, he hadn’t aged a day. Next to him stood Mister Beilschmidt. ‘Nikolaus and I reconciled. We realized that fighting each other wouldn’t help anything. So instead we decided that we would protect our own kind. So tragedies like this one, would never happen again.’

In a flash everything disappeared and we were back in the office. I looked at both Mister Beilschmidt and Mister Vargas. They had seen so many things, they had lived so many lives. Yet here they were, still alive and running. ‘The SA Program, sometimes also called SAP stands for: Super Ability Program. Our initial goal was to protect our own kind from war, later is also became important to protect our students against the government and society.’ Mister Beilschmidt stated, his German accent faded slightly.

He was faking it. Maybe long ago it had been real, but after living such a long life he probably only used it for show. ‘Gifted people like you have been going to this school for quite some time. Although we’ve always tried to keep at least 50% of our students Ungifted.’ Francis almost fell out of his chair. ‘50% are you a mad man?!’ Arthur too shook his head in disbelief. ‘How is it that this place hasn’t been found out yet?’

Nikolaus moved his hand in a careless manner and suddenly a living copy of Arthur was looking at us. ‘Good question Mister Kirkland. Well you as you can see: I can create illusions. I can hide things for all but few. Manipulate the reality of what people see. All Ungifted who go here are not aware of the secrets that this school hold.’ Mister Vargas pointed at the fake Arthur. ‘Some students like Mister Kirkland are born with their abilities. Others like Mister Bonnefoy receive theirs during accidents.’ The fake-Arthur faded away.

Mister Beilschmidt took a pencil and threw it at Ivan. He quickly looked up. ‘What did I miss?’ Mister Beilschmidt shrugged his shoulders. ‘You shouldn’t fall asleep while others talk. Maybe you can explain how we categorize different types of Gifts Mister Braginsky?’ The Russian seemed confused for a second. But slowly his annoyed frown got deeper as understanding dawned him.

‘Well this school uses categories to keep a clear view on the different types of abilities the students have.’ He stretched out as he continued. ‘Example: Psykers have mind powers. Like Mister Beilschmidt here, my little sister Natalya and Francis. Arthur has a power which is a lot rarer. It can’t really be categorized clearly so he falls under Supernaturals.’

Ivan shrugged his shoulders. ‘There were a few more that I can’t remember right now. But Alfred, Yao and Matthew all fall under the Biotics. This is a name for people who basically can do things normal people can’t do.’ He waved away his own words.

‘You forgot the Benders Ivan.’ Mister Vargas stated cheerfully. ‘Oh right those yeah. Like that female friend of yours? That girl Elizabeta? She can do something with the ground. Don’t know what exactly. But yeah, she’s a Bender.’ Elizabeta was indeed one of our friends. Although I didn’t speak much with her, and Gilbert was of course crushing on her. So usually I heard more about her than I would like to.

‘Are you still all following it?’ Alfred raised his hand as if in class. ‘So to make things clear: This is like a school for mutants, like in X-Men?’ Mister Vargas shook his head. ‘I haven’t seen a lot of superhero movies, but I have seen that one. And I only watched it because it indeed sounded like my school. But no we’re different.’

He stared out of the window. Just like most things at the Academy the window was in an old English style. ‘We help people discover this school. We promise parents that their children will be safe here. You learn how to control and suppress your power. If this goes well you can leave after your last year and blend into society. If this isn’t going well then you can live the rest of your life in Italy. We’ve created an underground save haven where Gifted can life the rest of their lives in peace.’

Arthur seemed skeptic. ‘And what if you don’t want to hide your powers?’ Nikolaus and Romulus gave each other a quick glance. ‘Many ask us that question. And all realized at some point that we were actually right. Trust us. Many before you tried, but all lived in misery.’ Mister Beilschmidt said, a sorrowful expression on his face.

‘So you may not agree right away with us. But trust us when we say that your parents and we, only want what is best for our students.’ Arthur wasn’t done yet: ‘It doesn’t make sense. Why don’t you tell all Gifted students right away that they have powers?’

‘You’re right, it would make this place a lot safer.’ I quickly added as I remembered Jimmy Stones. ‘Beside, why are some students attacking others? It seems dangerous, how do you keep order?’ Mister Vargas let out a sigh. ‘Well to answer your questions: Usually our students don’t try to kill each other. Usually powers start showing around the time puberty strikes. Sometimes later, sometimes earlier. We’ve noticed that more and more Ungifted students develop powers. For reasons yet unknown.’

He turned away from the window. Students were making their way towards their next classes. ‘It could be coincide, but I think there is more to it. The age that people start showing their abilities has also gotten higher and higher. For example Arthur who was born with his abilities only got full access to them a little while ago. While usually he should have had full access around the age of maybe thirteen.’

It sounded like a messy puzzle. ‘If I may ask, how many Gifted students are their currently?’ Mister Beilschmidt had an extremely serious face. And his worried expression made me gulp. ‘First there were 50% Gifted students. That percentage has gone up to 66%.’ _What in the world?_ ‘Not to add that we suspect that percentage is still rising as we speak. We suspect that the plane accident may’ve triggered some students to develop abilities.’

Arthur seemed in deep thought. Yao suddenly spoke up, I noticed that at the end of his sentences he made an odd _Aru_ -sound. ‘What you guys need to understand is this: If Ungifted students like Jimmy Stones suddenly receive powers they either panic or go rogue. Either way they cause a lot of destruction and chaos. That’s why Ivan and I go around in the night. To make sure nothing dangerous happens.’ Ivan hums. His face is slowly getting more and more alert. He’s finally waking up a bit.

‘Mister Beilschmidt has managed to keep the news at bay by creating the illusion that nothing bad happened. We were able to quickly rebuild the school because some students have very useful abilities. But when Nikolaus is sleeping his power goes on stand-by. This makes the school and its students vulnerable. Yao has helped us out for years now, which we are very grateful too!’ Mister Vargas said.

I’ve managed to keep up so far. I think. ‘Anyway, enough questions answered for now. We are going to discuss your punishment.’ Mister Beilschmidt said. He seemed slightly annoyed as he glanced at the clock. ‘Mister Vadas already said that you will be powerless for at least 3 weeks. You will also have to register as official students of the SA Program.’

He handed us all a piece of paper. ‘You will be attending side subjects where you will learn all you will have to know about your abilities.’ I quickly glanced at the paper. It looked like a lot to fill in. ‘Not to mention that you have violated some very important rules. As punishment you will have to guard the school at night together with Mister Wang and Braginsky. Mister Wang will make sure that you are fulfilling your punishment correctly. You will be doing this at least until Christmas.’

Alfred jumped up in surprise. ‘Christmas?!’ Francis also didn’t look very pleased. ‘You’re kidding right? It’s barely Fall yet!’ At this point my brother was whining. ‘Oh shut it. You’ll only make things worse.’ Arthur quickly said. ‘Oh Nikolaus, you forgot to mention that they will also have to do labor in the kitchen.’ Mister Vargas quickly added.

‘Dude is that necessary?!’ ‘Alfred shut it-’ ‘No I’m not keeping quiet. How can they do this to us Artie? You can’t even heat up microwave food! Let alone work in the kitchen.’ ‘You bloody-’ ‘Please dear friend, don not deny your terrible cooking. We don’t want to poison the school.’ ‘Please you frog, you keep out of this or I swear I’ll-’

‘EVERYONE QUIET DOWN!’ It grew quiet immediately. Mister Beilschmidt seemed awfully displeased. Mister Vargas was simply whistling a cheerful tune. ‘Frankly this is your punishment. And you’ll get further details about it later on. You are all dismissed.’ It was like hearing a judge say: _this is my verdict just deal with it_.

Mister Vargas opened the door. ‘Now hurry up, your classes have all started already. Just tell your teacher that you were talking to me alright?’ Alfred looked like he wanted to say something, but we all glanced at him quickly and he closed his mouth.

Slowly we made our way outside. But before we could leave Mister Vargas spoke up: ‘Oh and by the way.’ Suddenly I could see the soldier in him. ‘Talking about the SA Program with unregistered students is strictly forbidden. Don’t forget that alright?’ I wasn’t the only one who gulped at those scary eyes. Once standing in the hallway I looked around. We were standing in a small circle.

Yao, Ivan and Arthur were all wearing clean uniforms. Miss Kirkland had probably allowed them to change clothes already. Yao looked like he needed a cup of coffee. Ivan bit his lip when nothing changed into ice under his touch. And Arthur had a very empty expression. Francis was still wearing his ridiculous clothes, he looked stunned. Alfred was cleaning his glasses, his expression seemed mixed between being tired and being overwhelmed.

And me? I didn’t know how I felt. For a moment or so it stayed quiet. A few students walked past us, not really paying any attention to us. It was Alfred who broke the silence: ‘I’m gonna get myself some clean clothes, a bit of sleep and some coffee. Who’s coming with me?’ We all followed him in silence. It was the day that we had all unknowingly entered a game.

A very dangerous game.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAHAHHA. Alright. Let's first name the reasons why I update so late:  
> 1\. Apparently I've fallen victim to the notorious ''writer's block'' and let me assure you: It's like living in Hell.  
> 2\. BUT as you can see: I'm trying to fight it!  
> 3\. Also I'm just a mess of a human being with constant issues.  
> Here are some important announcement:  
> 1\. I'LL PROMISE THAT DURING THE COLD MONTHS I'LL WORK EXTRA HARD TO MAKE IT UP TO YOU GUYS.  
> 2\. Nikolaus Beilschmidt = Germania  
> 3\. Romulus Vargas = Roman Empire  
> 4\. And you may be thinking: This is a X-Men rip off. TRUST ME. IT WON'T BE. OR AT LEAST I'LL DO MY BEST.  
> I hope you all have a wonderful day/evening/afternoon/whatever, and I'll see you all next time alright. :) Next chapter will be from Alfred's perspective!  
> \- Suus-Arido


	13. Chapter 12 - Alfred: Don’t burn water, just don’t

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! SO HERE YOU GO. Chapter 13 is also finished, but I'm editing it right now. I just thought: Let's drop this chapter. Because I really, really wanted to. Enjoy and don't forget to leave a review. ;)

_There is a right and a wrong in this universe. And the distinction is not hard to make._ ~ Superman

Trust me when I say that I’m absolutely speechless. Dude I’ve been staring at the wall for like 15 minutes now, and I still don’t know what I wanna tell you guys first! There are several options you know. Let’s just start with the easy stuff: What’s up people? At this point in the story I bet you all have a lot of questions. And you may start doubting how legit we _really_ are. I mean immortals, people with powers and an awesome school for superheroes. It sounds too good to be true am I right?

Let’s just start with me waking up. I was absolutely exhausted. There’d been a lot of information thrown at me in a very short period of time. I mean, I’m kind of an easy guy. I just go with the flow. But after that little talk we had with Mister Vargas and Beilschmidt, I started to get slightly nervous. For what I was nervous I wasn’t sure yet. But I just had a bad feeling.

So imagine this: You wake up in your room. Your alarm tells you to get up because school starts. And everything is red. The walls, your desk, and even your bed, everything is red. Don’t worry it isn’t blood. But what is it then? I’d been slightly wondering about that question. I looked around again.

Things still weren’t getting into focus, but slowly I realised this was because I wasn’t wearing my glasses. I put them up as fast as I could. And once I saw clear a nasty taste formed in the back of my throat. Everything was covered in flags. And not just any flag. It was a red one, with on it the symbols of Communism. It was the flag of the Soviet Union.

Slowly I stood up to inspect the room. It looked like a lot of work. I opened my closet, wondering if they’d also covered my clothes with the Soviet shit. But my clothes were unharmed. I looked over at Toris’ side of the room. His part was unharmed too. Toris was ignoring his alarm going off, he was snoring loudly.

It wasn’t very difficult to guess who’d done this prank, and why. I looked at the wall above my bed. There are a few shelves, it’s where I keep my games and movies. And to compensate for the lack of decoration the room has, I’d hung up the American flag right above my bed. I always thought it looked awesome. Nothing wrong with be proud of your country right? Well usually when other people saw it, they would pull a face like they wanted to laugh, puke and be ashamed of me all at the same time.

Arthur had declared it the most ridiculous thing he’d ever seen. (Despite that he has a pillow in his room with the British flag on it. He’s an ass.) Anyway, my beautiful flag had been overlapped with a big version of the Soviet Union flag. And if this had happened to anyone else I guess I would find it pretty funny. But it was still early in the morning, and I was not in the mood yet to laugh about these types of jokes.

‘Toris wake up.’ Toris let out an annoyed sigh. ‘I don’t want to.’ I made my way towards his alarm and in my irritation slammed it off too hard. The stupid thing fell on the ground and one of the pointers fell off. I tried to keep back the curse words that were definitely leaving my mouth as I tried to fix it. (Let’s just censor that part. You never know what type of audience is listening right?) ‘Alfred you can go. I have Lithuanian the first hour so it’s alright.’ I tried to come up with the right words to apologize for his broken clock. But then he opened his eyes and looked around.

‘Alfred why is your part covered with Soviet flags?’ I opened my mouth to answer, but then decided to first address my blunder. ‘Uhm, I sort of broke your clock. Please tell me it wasn’t from your grandma or something?’ Toris shook his head, he didn’t seem to care or mind at all. He was staring at my side of the room with what seemed fascination. ‘Alfred who has the spare key to this room?’ I laughed nervously. ‘Good question dude. I think I have an idea who did this. So don’t worry about it.’

He fell down again. ‘Good. Tell them that I don’t approve. I’ll see you later.’ He was already trying to doze off again but I carefully poked his shoulder. ‘It’s not Wednesday Toris. It’s Monday. We have PE remember?’ Slowly he cracked his eyelids open again. ‘You’re joking right?’ I wish I was. With a deep sigh he threw off his blankets. ‘Well let’s go then.’

And thus (we) the heroes continued on their adventure that would bring them to the next challenge. (Which they would also have to conquer of course.) In our case running laps. Mister Vadas looked the same as always: grumpy, and with desperate need of anger management. ‘HURRY UP LADIES. You see Miss Héderváry over there? Even a GIRL is running faster than you wussies!’ Elizabeta laughed as Gilbert failed at catching up with her.

I’d noticed that my powers had sort of helped me run faster. But now that they were gone I noticed I was struggling more. ‘Jones hurry up!’ It feels weird, not having my powers anymore. I’d started to sort of get used to them. I’d started getting more careful when I touched objects (because they were otherwise freaking breaking under my touch). And keeping my weight on the ground had started becoming the same as breathing.

But now my body was normal, or at least temporarily normal because of Mister Vadas. Still 3 weeks to go until I’d get them back. I was counting of the days. Matthew on the other hand seemed more cheerful than usual. It was 3 three days since the chemistry lab situation and Matthew had taken me aside the second day. _‘Alfred this is a great thing! We can finally have our lives back. We have nothing to worry about anymore.’_

He’d looked so happy. A grin on his face, all the stress had disappeared from his face. But I didn’t understand his excitement. _‘You do know that we will get them back right?’_ He waved my statement away. _‘I’ll just ask him to make it permanently.’_ The idea scared me. Because in truth? I didn’t want these gifts to disappear.

I felt like someone had cut of my thumb. I felt like I was missing something. And it made me feel miserable. My body felt like a heavy meat bag around me and with some struggle I started running faster. Arthur can run fast, but I’d finally managed to catch up with him.

‘Hey Artie.’ ‘Alfred.’ His answer was short. And the underlying tone was informing me not to say anything else. (Since he was obviously concentrating.) I decided to ignore the secret undertone. ‘How’s my favorite British dude feeling?’ He frowned, which looks really cute by the way. ‘I felt better when you were quiet.’ Monday morning Arthur is my favorite Arthur. Because he’s angry, snappy and making him laugh when he’s like that is a victory.

‘Pull the frown upside down. 3 weeks are over before you know it!’ His green eyes focused on me for a short second. ‘I know. It’s just that my mother told me a lot after the lab incident. And I never got around sharing any new information with you.’ The idea that Arthur was willingly sharing information with me made me jump in the air. ‘That’s cool let’s talk about it during kitchen duty.’ Suddenly Gilbert was running with us.

‘Greetings less-awesome humans. I hear you have kitchen duty!? What did you guys do?’ Francis suddenly appeared left from us. ‘Ooh Gilbert, you know _exactly_ what they were up to _if you catch my drift_.’ I didn’t really catch his drift. ‘What are you talking about? You also got kitchen duty.’ Arthur started running faster, his face got even redder.

Gilbert started laughing. ‘Man Alfred I’d forgotten how dense you were. But if Francis also got in trouble than he must be bullshitting. So what did you guys really do?’ Antonio suddenly appeared. ‘Must have been something minor like running through the hallway.’ He laughed, Gilbert snickered his weird laugh. ‘Probably, they are too nooby for something mayor ass kicking.’ I hadn’t seen Antonio in a while. He’d been too "sick" to attend school. As you may hear in my tone, I didn’t really believe that he was sick.

I still remembered the conversation between him and Matthew’s female friend at the hospital. I should convince Matthew that we should look into those two, it was too suspicious to just let it be. Everyone acted like Antonio had never been sick. The Spaniard was joking around again, his cheery smile constantly appearing on his face. When he saw his favorite Italian trip he quickly went over to hug him.

‘No anger on the field Lovino, happy thoughts!’ The Italian protested loudly. ‘Let me go bastard! Where the fuck where you all this time? Not that I missed a worthless piece of trash like you but dammit!’ I looked around for Matthew’s female friend, the tall blonde one, she was nowhere in sight. ‘Hey Alfred are you listening to me?’ I looked up, Arthur was running beside me again. ‘Sorry I spaced of what did you say?’

His face looked tense and serious. ‘I just realised something: Gilbert… he is the grandson of Mister Beilschmidt right?’ I quickly turned towards the trio that we were leaving behind, they were too busy talking. Francis tried to look as fabulous as possible while running, Gilbert was wearing a soccer shirt from a German team and Antonio was telling something to his friends. ‘Now that you mention it, he is. But… that dude is immortal right? Do you think Gilbert knows? You know… _everything_?’

The idea hadn’t crossed my mind yet. ‘Well, I don’t know honestly. But now that we’re on the subject Feliciano and Lovino seem to be in the same situation as Gilbert and Ludwig.’ He looked around. ‘But on the subject of Gilbert I think we know someone who might know more about that.’ He nodded at Matthew. Of course, those two shared a room. If anyone would know, it would be my brother. He was running at the other side of the field with a guy who really hates my guts.

I decided I could ask him later. I wasn’t in the mood for confrontations. I turned to Arthur, he looked tired and we started running slower and slower. A few people ran past us but we didn’t care. ‘Shall we walk for a few minutes? I’m dying.’ I complained.

Arthur nodded as he too tried to catch his breath. ‘You two continue! Only one more round and you’re good!’ We looked up startled. It was Gilbert’s little brother Ludwig. His strong posture reminded me of an army soldier. Didn’t both Gilbert and Ludwig undergo military training when they were younger? I couldn’t remember. ‘Ludwig dude are you a freaking a machine? I’m dying here.’ I let out a deep sigh. The German got followed by Kiku who looked like he was ready to die. ‘Kiku you agree with us right? We need a break.’ Kiku tip toed beside us and shook his head.

‘My deepest apologies and sincerest regret Alfred. But I have to disagree. For the sake of my honor I need to continue.’ He bowed his head quickly and continued. _Man those Japanese are weird folks._ Ludwig nodded in approval. When Ludwig’s best friend Feliciano fell on the ground and started sleeping there he frowned. ‘Feliciano! You could learn something from Kiku!’ The Italian slowly stood up. He looked sleepy. ‘Yes captain!’ Miserably he continued running. Elizabeta and a few others had already finished their rounds and were lying on the grass.

I needed to find a way to motivate Arthur into running again. ‘Hey Arthur?’ Ludwig had left us already. ‘I bet you that I can reach the finish before you do.’ _Arthur has a weakness. It is competition._ I saw the gleam in his eyes that told me that his pride could not refuse this dare. A cocky grin formed on his lips. ‘You do know that there is a reason they put me as mid-fielder during our football matches right?’

‘You mean soccer?’ ‘Football, soccer, you know what I mean.’ ‘I don’t. But anyway, are you on?’ ‘What’s the prize?’ ‘Everlasting glory, bragging rights, you know the usual.’

I leaned towards him, enjoying the fact that his eyes widened at the move. ‘If you want to there could be more. Just say the magic words.’ I winked, he called me an asshole. ‘Love you too darling.’ He huffed, irritation written all over his face. I tried to keep back a laugh. He’s so easily baffled. I can’t resist teasing him alright? That would be like _not_ petting a fluffy kitten. And _not_ playing with the basket of puppies. It’s just impossible.

‘Ready. Set. Go!’ We started running as if our lives were depending on it. The finish came closer and closer, and I felt positive about winning. That was until I turned to see were Arthur was, and got distracted. I know it sounds super stupid and pathetic. But he just distracted me in some way. Before I knew it someone tried to trip me, but I quickly caught balance again. When I turned to see who the culprit was I saw a pair of evil red eyes staring at me.

 _Dammit Gilbert._ It was all Arthur needed to run past me. He won with a long shot. Not matter how hard I tried, the dude was like the freaking wind, I could just not get any closer. He won, and instead of taking the victory like an old arrogant man like he usually does. (He goes like: _Oh jolly. I’ve won. Well it’s not that surprising since I’m ooh so fucking superior blah blah blah._ ) He started laughing at my face. ‘Ha I’ve won! Suck on that!’ He did a little victory dance. A happy smile formed on his face. Mission: _Get Arthur to smile on Monday morning_ successful.

Soon PE was over and we all made our way towards different subjects. Both Matthew and Arthur have schedules with a lot of language and creative courses. My schedule on the other hand has subjects like physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics etcetera. Not very long ago I’d dropped biology tough. I got really good grades on it, but found it not challenging enough. Also I was pretty sure I didn’t want to become a doctor later.

I wanted to take drama instead, since that had always been pretty fun. But after the garden incident (there we have it again, trust me I didn’t burn anything down, it was not my fault.) I wasn’t allowed to join the drama class again. So instead I tried music, but since that’s a popular subject they couldn’t take any more students. So I was forced to take literature. You wanna know what I think of literature?

It’s boring. _So very boring_.

Quote of the day: ‘ _Shakespeare had issues. Even Twilight has a better love story than Romeo and Juliet. (Yes I just went there.) I crave hamburgers._ ’ - Alfred Jones

Don’t like my opinion? Well that’s the fun part about living. You meet lots of people with different opinions. The only good thing about literature is that I sit beside Arthur. It amuses me when he raises his hand to give the answer. Example, Miss Kirkland (who gives English and literature) will ask: What does the writer mean with this? And Arthur will give a long answer in which he practically sums up the darkest secrets the writer might have.

 _Maybe the guy just thought it was a pretty sentence,_ is apparently always the wrong answer.

I dragged myself to chemistry. When it became lunch time (after what felt like forever) I quickly ran towards the kitchen. Kitchen duty so far wasn’t that bad. Usually I had the lunch shifts (the dinner shifts are terrible). When I arrived I saw that Matthew was helping to make sandwiches. Arthur was busy cleaning plates.

I turned to the guy who gave the orders around here. He only gave me a quick glance before pointing at Matthew. ‘You can help them out. Now hurry its very busy today.’ Honestly, every day was busy day, but I decided not to say anything. As Matthew and I started making sandwiches we kept quiet. He seemed to be in a good mood.

We hadn’t really had any Hero Club meetings after the incident at the lab. Ivan and I had sort of cooled down. We didn’t try to annoy each other anymore. We were already in trouble enough. The chilly aura around him had sort off disappeared. Without his ice powers he stopped wearing his gloves, scarf and winter coat. He seemed less tense but people still avoided him. His eerie smile hadn’t disappeared tough.

Yao seemed as normal as he’d ever been. Since we didn’t really share the same friends we hardly saw him. But when our eyes did meet, there was this weird unspoken feeling between us. We knew his secret. And he knew ours. And I guess this had forced us to become allies. Francis had also started to act differently. Sometimes I caught him staring mindlessly into space. When he saw my questioning look he would simply reply by saying that it was quiet.

I hadn’t asked anyone what they thought about the SA Program yet. Since today would be our first day being part of the program. I guess I was looking forward to it. ‘Hey Mattie, today is our first SAP day.’ My brother simply hummed. He quickly cut the tomatoes. ‘Are you looking forward to it?’ He frowned slightly. ‘Not really…’ He was murmuring so softly that I didn’t get half of what he was saying. ‘…But I guess we have no choice in the matter.’ He finished. I laughed awkwardly. ‘What you said dude. What you said.’

After that it became quiet again. We didn’t speak to Arthur at all. He was too busy doing the dishes. _I guess we will talk about that new information later then._ Quickly I looked for more lettuce. And as I stared at the green healthy leaves I suddenly remembered something. ‘Hey Matthew, do you think that Gilbert knows about SAP?’

For a second Matthew slowed down as he gave it some thought. ‘I don’t know. I guess he does. I mean Mister Beilschmidt _is_ related to him. So he might even be part of the program.’ He started nodding as if that sounded reasonable. ‘Are you sure? Have you ever noticed anything… strange about him?’ At this we laughed.

‘Al, everything is strange about him. But to be serious: I can’t think of anything peculiar right now.’ Suddenly I saw self-doubt in his eyes. ‘Gilbert did mention that he thought students were acting strange. He said that he believes something fishy is going on.’ I didn’t want to let Matthew do the dirty work. But it would be less suspicious if he asked it. ‘Maybe you can try to get an answer out of him? Drop subtle hints about SAP. If he knows what you’re talking about he won’t have any reasons to hide it. It’s the fastest way to figure out what he knows.’

We agreed on the plan. After that I remembered the other important thing we should discuss. ‘Hey what was the name of that female friend of yours again?’ Matthew didn’t look up this time. ‘Which one? There a quite a few females around you know.’ I suck at remembering names, but luckily I still had a pretty clear image of the girl.

‘Long, scary, probably German, intimidating, has a scar on her face, probably smokes pod or at least sells it.’ Matthew’s dark blue eyes looked at me with suspicion. ‘You mean Tessa. She’s Dutch.’ Awkward silence followed before he quickly added: ‘And she doesn’t sell drugs...’ When he saw my face he added: ‘…Anymore at least.’

‘What do you want from Tessa?’ He knew I was up to something. ‘You remember after I woke up from my coma that we heard a conversation between her and Antonio?’ It’s still weird to say. _Remember when I woke up from a coma?_ When I try to think back I can’t remember anything from after the roof started dropping. Only what others have told me give me a vague image of what happened.

Matthew ignores me on purpose. ‘Come on. Remember what they were talking about?’ He still ignores me. ‘Well I know I promised you I wouldn’t look into it too much. Because otherwise you would get all angry and sensitive about it. But I can’t ignore suspicious behaviour. Antonio was acting super weird right? Well suddenly he’s back, and he’s all back to normal now. But when was the last time you saw Tessa Matthew?’

I see him clutching his hand. ‘I saw her yesterday during dinner.’ ‘But when was the last time you spoke with her?’ ‘She said hi to me when she walked past me.’ ‘I mean a proper conversation.’

His head snaps up. An angry glare on his face. ‘I get it Alfred. I get it alright?’ He drops the loaf of bread on the table and puts his glasses right. ‘I know we can’t ignore all the signs. After what happened with Jimmy Stones… I mean he was friend of yours right? You trusted him in a certain sense. Yet he has a side of him that you didn’t expect.’

He turns to me. ‘What I’m trying to say is: Maybe the same goes for Tessa and Antonio. Maybe they are not the people that we thought they were. Maybe they did cause the plane crash in some sort of mysterious way. Maybe they have powers that we were not aware of. Maybe… maybe they are a danger that should be neutralized.’

That last sentence felt heavy between us. ‘If there’s only a small chance that their conversation was more than that I thought at first. Then that’s enough to investigate. Just to make sure our friends can stay save.’ I didn’t want to ask him the question. But it was important that I had this straight.

‘Do you want to get rid of the accusations on Tessa?’ He nodded. ‘Then let me do it.’ The chef noticed we were talking and demanded we hurry up. We continued our job. But the conversation wasn’t over yet. ‘Alfred what are you talking about? They will definitely notice you snooping around. I’m much more fitted for the job. I’ve known her for ages.’

‘And that’s exactly why I should do it Matt. You are too focused on clearing her name. You will ignore important shit if it means that she’s innocent.’ Of course he protested. ‘That’s ridiculous! You know that I would _never_ do that!’ He gave me a desperate look. ‘I want to do this Alfred! She’s my friend. I won’t let my feelings get in the way I promise.’

I considered it. ‘Okay, but as soon as I notice that you are making mistakes you’ll stop.’ He nodded. ‘I will. Let’s discuss our strategy somewhere else tough. Arthur needs to get informed and-’

‘Arthur can’t get involved.’ I’d already decided that wouldn’t be happening. ‘Why? We are a team right? What about the others?’ He gives me this weird look, a mix between frustration and confusion. He’d pulled his hair back in a small ponytail, which hardly worked as his hair wasn’t long hair enough. (But the chef found it long enough to demand Matthew pulling it back).

‘Nobody can know. Maybe Ivan and Yao are in the complot as well. And Francis and Arthur can’t know because how more people know, how worse our investigation will go. You need to keep this a top secret. If we are successful we will share what we know with the other alright. If it was a worthless effort we’ll just bury it.’

His eyes told me he disagreed, he opened his mouth to say something. But in the end he simply nodded and gave in. Once lunch break was almost over we were allowed to go so we could eat. During Home Economics (a few hours later) we got instructions to make a pasta dish. Francis and Arthur were working together. I could hear them get into a heated argument about the water boiling point. In the end Arthur stated that he would take care of it himself. I wasn’t very surprised when his water caught fire.

I worked with Kiku. The Japanese student was awfully quiet as he followed the instructions. ‘Hey Kiku, did anything interesting the last couple of days?’ Kiku his brown eyes focused on mine for a short second before turning back towards the pasta. ‘I read some manga and did homework. Did you do anything interesting over the weekend Alfred? I heard you got into trouble.’ He gave me sincere concerned look.

I laughed as I tried to come up with a good excuse. I wasn’t going to just lie to Kiku. ‘Well I did something really stupid and I hadn’t given it much thought. So now I have to bear the consequences.’ Kiku nodded. He was too polite to try to guess what had happened. ‘Well I hope that in the future this will not happen again. If I may ask: Will Wednesday game night still be on?’ I wanted to say that it would of course still be on. But then I remembered night watch. ‘Uhm I’m not sure. I’ll try to switch with someone alright? I’ll tell you as soon as I can.’ Game night is a thing we do every Wednesday night.

We usually just play video games or watch Japanese cartoons. It’s this thing that we’ve been doing for years now. Sometimes others join us as well. This reminded memof something else: ‘Fudge! I might have to cancel movie Sunday with Arthur too!’ Now I was really starting to get annoyed. Movie Sunday was a thing between Arthur and me. It all started when he claimed he’d never seen the Breakfast Club.

So I’d forced him to watch it. And since then it became a tradition to watch movies together on Sunday. ‘What’s the matter Alfred? The school can’t give you any punishments during the weekends. You know that right?’ Kiku’s heavy accent becomes worse when he talks fast. ‘So not worry.’ I felt stupid. How could I’ve forgotten? I nodded. ‘Dude you’re right. I guess I’m not sleeping enough nowadays.’

Before anything else could be said we got joined by Feliciano. Who I guess you’ve never been properly introduced to. So let me give you an image of Feliciano Vargas.

He’s Italian, has brown eyes, auburn brown hair, he’s lazy, likes pasta and is constantly in trouble with his best friends Ludwig and Kiku. Feliciano is easily scared. This I know because on the first day of class (when we were still little kids) I greeted him and he screamed, started crying and begged me not to hurt him.

But we get along nowadays just fine. Although I will admit he can be a bit… much. ‘Hey Kiku, hello Alfred!’ Kiku slightly bowed as greeting and I simply nodded. ‘What’s up Feli?’ He gave me a confused look. ‘The ceiling of course. What a funny questions you ask!’ _That basically sums up all our conversation by the way._ ‘He doesn’t mean that idiot. He means how you are doing.’ Behind him stood his older brother Lovino. Who seemed very annoyed by his little brother’s stupid behaviour.

Lovino looks like his younger brother in some sense. But his hair is a lot darker, as is his skin, he has these angry green eyes and is constantly on his period. ‘In that case I’m doing good!’ In the meantime Kiku was keeping an eye on the boiling pasta. ‘Anyway I have a question for you stupid American.’ Lovino stated. Trust me when I say, Lovino is _always_ on his period. ‘That depends dude. How can I help?’ Lovino looked at his younger brother as if searching courage that obviously hadn’t been passed on from Mister Vargas.

‘You know a lot about science right?’ My face cleared up and I nodded. People are always surprised to find out I’m actually really good with numbers. ‘Well I have this thing for chemistry that I need to do. And I wondered if you could give me some advice on it.’ Of course I would help him out. ‘Sure, what’s the subject?’ He always looks really tense. ‘Electricity.’ We discussed when I would help him out, and he left to check on his pasta.

Feliciano was still happily humming beside me. ‘So Feli, do you also need something?’ Feliciano nodded. ‘Ah yes I almost forgot!’ From his pocket he revealed a pen and a notebook. ‘Kiku, Ludwig and I are the Newspaper Club. And I’m doing a story on the secrets that this school hides from us. And I would love to interview you on it!’ Kiku didn’t look up. I was a bit confused. ‘Why would you want to interview me on such subject?’

Feliciano hummed as he started writing something down. I wondered what. ‘Because you are a nice person Alfred. And you’re also really smart right?’ When he saw my hesitance he tried to reassure me. ‘Don’t worry it will be simple questions. Things like: Have you ever seen anything strange? And what do you think about the weird things that happen around the school? Those type of questions. I’ve already interviewed lots and lots of people!’ Something about his innocence made me want to give in to his request.

But I couldn’t just expose myself like that right? It was the quick look that Kiku and Feliciano gave each other that made me quickly decide. ‘Haha why not, I have this _great_ theory about aliens that you might think is interesting.’ There had been this weird look in his eyes before, but that had disappeared now. ‘Great! Well I’ll talk to you later then okay?’

You might be thinking: Why’d you agree? What if he finds something out? Well the thing is: If I had refused he would have become suspicious. He would have wondered why I, the talkative and always self-centred Alfred Jones, would deny an interview in which I could be the centre of attention. It would have been out of character for me.

So by actually agreeing, I would be scrapped from the list of suspicious people. I didn’t like what the Newspaper Club was doing at all. What type of people where they trying to expose? ‘Why is Feliciano suddenly so interested in this stuff? I thought he mostly wrote about zodiacs and cats?’ The teacher checked if our pasta was good and she nodded in approval when she wrapped it around a fork.

‘Ludwig thinks we should write more about subjects that lay in our field of interest. Gilbert was constantly talking about it, and apparently he has convinced Feliciano to do some research about it.’ I tried to laugh it off as I switched the subject to something else. But in my mind the same question kept being asked: _Gilbert huh?_ As our last class ended I started feeling excited. The SA classes would start now. I quickly made my way towards the gym. I wondered what we would be doing there. When I walked in I saw Francis being smacked on the ground by Yao. ‘Wow guys?! What are you doing?’

Quickly I tried to pull Yao away from Francis but he tackled me to the ground too. ‘Now that we are complete we can start.’ He simply stated. I looked around. Arthur, Ivan and Matthew were all looking at me amused. ‘Wait, are you the teacher?’ Slowly I stood up. Yao scratched his head. ‘Well not officially. But Mister Vadas has other things to do as well. So I’ll have to do.’ When he saw my face he raised an eyebrow. ‘Or would you prefer Mister Vadas screaming in your face what a worthless piece of shit you are?’

Quickly I shook my head and went over to the others. Francis followed behind me. When we all stood waiting for Yao to begin I noticed the gym being deserted except for two people who sat in the corner. Miss Kirkland and a guy I’d never seen before with dark skin and weird clothes. ‘Let’s make this clear, I’m not here to train you to become ninja’s. I’m here to teach you self-defence.’ I couldn’t help but to be a bit disappointed.

‘Self-defence? Why not real fighting?’ He put his dark hair in a high ponytail as he continued talking. ‘We don’t want you to attack and hurt people. In the worst case scenario you should simply be able to defend yourself.’ He gave an odd nod in the direction of Miss Kirkland and he slowly mouthed: _Be patient_.

‘What about learning about our powers?’ I asked hopefully. ‘You all, including me are still at least 2 weeks without powers as far as I know.’ ‘But when we get them back, we will practise with them right?’ He shook his head. ‘The school promotes the suppression of powers. Not the development.’ Everything that Yao said he said with a look like he disagreed. _Fudge, I’d forgotten about that._

‘Enough questions! We are going to start, Alfred I’ll attack you. Show me what you can do.’ I made my way towards him. I had never trained in any form of martial arts. When I was younger my dad and I used to punch each other for the giggles. But the only real fighting I’d ever done was punching Ivan for being an ass.

As we stood there, I realized Yao was in fact an experienced fighter. But I didn’t fear. No way that he would get the chance to hit me- he slammed me to the ground in a matter of seconds. ‘You’re cocky Alfred. And you don’t concentrate. Watch what I’m doing. Take notice of where my body is tensing up. It might give you a clue as to how I will attack.’ He pulled me up. I was irritated now.

I raised my fist as a boxer. I tried to see what he was going to do next. But one moment he just stood there. The next moment he did some weird shit with his hands and legs and I got kicked to the ground. I heard Matthew laugh. _At least someone was having a good time._ ‘Again!’ I don’t know how many times we did that same thing. But I guess over a million times because everything started to hurt. One time I tried to attack first but I got reminded I wasn’t allowed to attack.

Only defending, which sucked. After hitting the ground for the 322th time he let me go and it was Ivan’s turn. He’d obviously had more practise than us since he actually managed to pin Yao down. ‘Alright now that you have all seen how it should be done I will team you up. Ivan with Alfred. Francis with me. Matthew with Arthur. Take positions and switch every 5 minutes!’ Great I would finally get my revenge.

Ivan took the attack position, since I needed to practise more than him. ‘Hey Ivan, slept well tonight?’ He had to do patrol yesterday night. I had my suspicion that he’d filled my room with Soviet Union flags. ‘Not really was on patrol.’ He slammed me on the ground. ‘Take notice of my legs Alfred. Notice how I put my weight in such a way that you can’t throw me off balance? Do the same.’ I had to go slightly through my knees and he nodded approving.

‘You know, I slept really well. But when I woke up, I noticed something odd.’ He tried to attack but failed at pinning me down. He tried again but I jumped to the left. _Imagine he wants to kill you. No matter what he does, keep away from him._ It was this weird mantra that I kept repeating to give myself more motivation. ‘Really what?’ He seemed genuinely curious.

‘You put the disgusting Communist flag all over my room you ass! You are definitely gonna help clean that shit up.’ In my irritation I tried to hit him. Just to get the anger out you know? But he swiftly avoided my attack and tackled me. ‘Oh.’ Was his simple reply. Then he smiled like a child at Christmas. ‘I didn’t hang up all those things you know. I simply delivered them to the person who needed them.’ He pulled me up and we started again.

‘Wait if you didn’t do it. Then who did?’ He grinned. ‘Can’t tell you.’ I tried to hit him. I failed. ‘Just tell me.’ His grin grew bigger, suddenly I realized why he and I never really became friends. ‘I can’t, I promised not to say his name.’ He quickly showed me the ground again. ‘Can you give me a hint at least?’ He gave it a thought. ‘Ask yourself this question Alfred: Who knows where you hide the spare key?’ Matthew knew where the damn thing was. But he didn’t have that type of humor. Neither did Toris or-

_Wait._

‘Arthur!’ Arthur and Matthew where fighting like little children. ‘Yeah?’ His look was one of curiosity. _It couldn’t be right?_ ‘Did you put up all those Soviet flags in my room?’ Arthur face went from confused, to slightly amused. ‘Toris promised me he would record your reaction on video.’ It was all I needed to hear to run towards him and to childishly punch him. He burst out in laughter.

‘I had help tough, Toris and Ivan were happy to oblige!’ I shook my head. ‘This deserves the severest punishment. You are definitely getting the tickle dead!’ His eyes widened as I started tickling him. ‘Haha haha stop! Cut it off!’ Tears were forming in his eyes. ‘You are cleaning that shit up. You mean grumpy old man.’ I turned to Ivan. ‘You asshole! You lied!’ Miss Kirkland stood up. ‘Mister Jones get back to your sparring partner!’

I didn’t listen tough. For at least another 20 minutes I was trying to get revenge on both Arthur and Ivan who were laughing about their own stupid prank. It was a week like any other on the World Academy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello people of the internet!
> 
> 1\. So to begin: Alfred's opinions on Shakespeare and Twilight, are not MY opinions. :)  
> 2\. Feliciano Vargas and Lovino Vargas = Win  
> 3\. Alfred's opinion on the Soviet Union is NOT my opinion on the Soviet Union.  
> 4\. Ireland was GREAT. I was totally stuck on the story and I went there, calmed down, enjoyed some free time. And BOOM ideas came to me like wildfire burning down ships!  
> 5\. I also went to Germany. (Berlin and Potsdam are the best.) I brought my laptop so I could write. And I basically wrote chapter 12 & 13 in like two days.  
> 6\. Which brings me to something else: YES. Chapter 13 is finished. I just need to edit the sh*t out of it.  
> 7\. My apologies for cursing so much in my chapters. It's a bad habit. c:  
> 8\. Chapter 14 is also in the making so hurray. xD  
> 9\. IF YOU ARE STILL READING THIS AND LIKING THIS, LET ME JUST SAY VERY AKWARDLY HOW MUCH I LIKE YOU AS A PERSON. IN A PLATONIC MATTER OF COURSE.  
> 10\. Next chapters might step of people's toes. So it may be important to read my warnings before reading it. O.O
> 
> Take care,
> 
> Suus-Arido


	14. Chapter 13 - Arthur: A tale of the unexplained

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING PLEASE READ: I am NOT against LGBT rights.  
> I ship freaking YAOI, some of my family members are out of the closest themselves.  
> I live in a country in which being gay is super normal.  
> Arthur is SORT OFF homophobe. BUT since this is a USUK story YOU ALL KNOW HE WON'T STAY THAT WAY.  
> Please don't hate me. I don't want to offend anyone okay?  
> So... now that is out of the way... let's just pretend this chapter never happened okay? Because I feel like it's terrible. More Author Note's at the end. Enjoy!

_Before you hurt someone, feel._ ~ Victoria Kirkland

We were running through the hallway chasing a cloaked figure. ‘Stay where you are!’ Alfred called out. He took a sprint and disappeared around the corner together with the mysterious person. I was exhausted, yet I forced myself to run faster. When I reached the corner I started cursing. They were both out of sight. Quickly I moved forward again, hoping to spot them somewhere. _Dammit! Francis can you hear me? I’ve lost Alfred. He’s chasing an intruder. I repeat, I lost Alfred and there is an intruder!_ You could say that it was a night like no other at the World Academy…

First let’s go back in time. Let’s go back to the morning after the lab incident. I’d woken up in my mother’s office. The room is dull, sufficient and quiet. But not that morning. No, a very unpleasant surprise was waiting for me when I regained consciousness. It was my family. ‘Finally our little princess has woken up.’ Allistor said. He got smacked on the shoulder by his fiancée Barbara. Seamus was staring at me like I was a fascinating piece of art. ‘Allistor be quiet. You know he hates that nickname.’

Dylan was sitting next to our grandparents. ‘You guys let him be. It’s not like he looks happy to see us anyways.’ My brothers laughed. ‘True.’ I looked around, my brothers, grandparents, uncles, aunts and their children. They had all decided to show up. I tried to open my mouth to say something. Instead I looked around bewildered. ‘What is everyone doing here?’

Aunt Róisín smiled. ‘Good morning, slept well?’ Everyone was murmuring amongst themselves. I tried to remember how I’d gotten there, but my memory was fussy. I looked at me clothes, they were covered in ash. Maybe that was the little push I needed to remember. Because suddenly everything came back to me. ‘Where’s mum?’ The door opened. My mother walked in. Speak of the Devil. Following her were Yao and Ivan. ‘I’m here. Sorry, I just dealt with Mister Wang and Mister Braginsky over here.’

Yao seemed uncomfortable with the whole room staring at him, Ivan rubbed his eyes, he didn’t seem to care. Mum looked like she usually did. Her sharp eyes scanned the room quickly. Her messy hair was jumping up every possible direction and dark bags could be found under her eyes. ‘You can both sit down, I have an announcement for all three of you.’ Yao and Ivan sat down reluctantly. In the meantime my family had turned away from me to talk amongst themselves. Which meant this didn’t involve them.

‘I’ve already explained to Mister Wang and Braginsky the flaws in their good deeds. But I would like to explain again to the three of you just so you will understand.’ And thus she started an angry in which my mother caused the entire room to fall quiet. I cringed, I was used to her anger, but looking to Yao and Ivan told me that they weren’t.

And they looked terrified. ‘You acted irresponsible. Have made a lot of damage on school property. Arthur you’ve used your abilities irresponsibly and should have immediately gone to me. And I’m not done yet! If I catch you children again, I will make sure that the punishment you will receive will be a lot worse.’

That’s the gist of it. Because after that she continued for another fifteen minutes. When she finally stopped the entire room was looking at us. ‘Good. Mister Wang and Braginsky, go to your rooms and dress properly. After that you may make your way towards Mister Vadas’ office. He will tell you your punishment.’ They stood up and left.

I was overwhelmed. After everything that had happened last night, I didn’t know what to say or do right now. I decided to just let it wash over me. When the door closed behind the two my family started talking amongst themselves again. ‘Uhm, I was wondering. Why is everyone here?’ That question seemed to baffle everyone into silence. My mother was sipping on a cup of tea to calm her nerves.

‘They are here because I invited them for a cup of tea. But also because we can finally let you participate in the family traditions.’ _Family traditions?_ ‘You mean: Like the fact that you can also use magic?’ I saw Aunt Alice text someone on her phone, she looked bored. Allistor started whistling. ‘That’s right. To keep a long and boring story short Eyebrows: You’re a wizard. Or a warlock I don’t care how you call yourself honestly.’

They all waited for some sort of reaction. ‘So anything else that I should know?’ Allistor gave it some thought. ‘Well every one of us here can use magic. It’s our family thing. We all use the same stupid book you use. The Book of Krik. It can only be used by Kirkland’s and since you can finally summon it, it means we can let you into the family secret.’

Seamus did jazz hands. ‘Surprise!’ I raised my eyebrows. ‘And why would I believe you?’ Dylan raised his shoulders. ‘Well you know mum’s lack of humour should have convinced you it’s real.’ Alright that was true. If this had been a joke mother would have never participated in it. I looked at Aunt Róisín. ‘You are not blood-related. Can you also use the book?’ She shook her head.

‘Uhm no. There are a lot of magic families out there. I’m part of a different one and use a different book.’ Dylan leaned in and spoke up: ‘Like your friends at the Magic Club? They also come from magic families. And that Chinese guy that just left? His family was once a magic family. But they courted too much with normal people, so instead of magic he can do other freaky things.’ He was bending his fingers a bit nervously. It meant he needed a smoke.

‘What about dad?’ My mother’s hand twitched. ‘The Chapman’s were also magic users. One of the reasons why I insisted you would all receive my name was because of the Chapman Curse. Your father’s family is _very_ sensitive to the dark arts. And I’m happy to see that the Book of Krik answers to you. It means you are probably not a victim to the Curse.’

‘And Peter?’ Peter didn’t have to same dad we had. This I hadn’t known, until mother informed me during my first year at the Academy. But none of us had ever made it a problem, and we had also never tried to hide it from him. ‘He may or may not possess magic abilities. We will have to see. He’s still young.’ My mother’s tone indicated that I shouldn’t ask anything else.

‘You seem to be taking it relatively well Arthur.’ My grandmother said, her small eyes focused on me in suspicion. Well after all that I’d seen I didn’t really know how to take it. ‘Well I guess it hasn’t really been sinking in yet.’ After that, we discussed some important things. I was also allowed to ask some questions. But my mother quickly cut of the chatting and told me to get properly dressed. ‘You know where Mister Vadas’ office is. So off you go.’ On my way out I quickly texted Alfred, and he responded almost immediately. They were doing fine.

The rest is history, as you already know that we got informed about the SA Program.

You might be curious as to what I think of the program. Well to be honest: Something about it all seems a bit strange to me. But if my mother is convinced that it’s the right thing to do, then I guess there is no harm in participating.

The days flew by without my magic. During our first night watch I had to work with Matthew. It was boring, we simply walked around the school, late at night, and waited for something to happen. Of course nothing of interesting revealed itself, so usually we would play cards. The SA subjects so far were simple: Self-defence with Yao. The one subject at school that I hated more than French.

The first few days my mother constantly kept her eyes on us. But soon she stopped visiting us during SA classes. The stranger that she brought with her kept visiting tough. He was a quiet young man, dark-skinned and with strange clothes. I felt his eyes burning through my back. I was quite positive he was watching me. But I was never very sure, since whenever I looked, he simply stared at the walls.

Mister Vadas guaranteed us that more SA subjects would follow. But since those subjects required abilities we would have to wait. We hadn’t really met any SA students yet either. We of course knew about a few. But neither Matthew, Alfred nor I ever got the chance to speak with any of them alone. And since we weren’t allowed to go to club activities either I didn’t really had a chance to speak with some of my other friends about it yet.

That was until today. I was walking through the hallway, and tried not to gape at everything I saw. You see, ever since we became part of the program the illusion of normality had disappeared. And we could now all finally see the true colours of the school and its students. A Polish classmate of ours (Feliks) walked out the wall next to me and casually made his way towards Alfred’s roommate Toris. Toris seemed unaware of his best friend’s power.

I’d always considered Mei Xiao to be a quiet girl. Yet when I walked past her in the hallway she smiled and waved at me. ‘ _Hey Arthur! Welcome at SAP._ ’ I stopped and looked around startled. ‘ _Don’t freak out, I’m a telepath. This is how I usually talk with fellow SAP students._ ’ The Taiwanese girl grinned before turning back to the person she was talking with.

I tried to look straight ahead. But every now and then I noticed a student with abilities. There was one guy who walked up against walls like it was nothing. He grabbed something from the highest shelf in the library and then made his way to the ground again like nothing had happened. I got so distracted by the sight that I bumped right into someone. It was Natalya.

I’d almost forgotten about her. From the look she was giving me I almost got a heart attack. It reminded me of the look she gave people before mind-torturing them. From the look she was giving me I could conclude that she probably remembered the lab incident. I hadn’t seen her at kitchen duty or night watch. But if I had to believe Ivan, his little sister had definitely gotten the right punishment.

I felt kind of bad for her. Ivan told us that his sister had always been a normal student. But after the plane crash she’d started to develop her scary, and lonesome ability. She often had trouble controlling it. She was already known as a friendless outcast, and her new ability wasn’t really making this easier. Even the SAP teachers didn’t know what to do with her. ‘Oh my apologies.’ I wanted to continue my way, but that’s when I noticed Lucy.

You’ve never met Lucy. And that’s because I never really mentioned my love life. You guys now all about Alfred’s. But mine is a lot simpler and a lot shorter. There were two girls. The first was called Sadie. She was just like me part of the student council. Because we worked together closely we ended up sort of dating.

And I really liked her. So of course she had to dump me. She felt that we would work better being friends. And after that she left the student council, and we never spoke again. I remember crying in my room because of her. Francis had later brought me some tea and stated that life could be harsh.

The second one was Lucy. And I adored her. She just happened to also live in London, so during the holiday’s we would spend time together in the city too. We were together for such a long time but then she suddenly broke up with me. Her reason: _I think we should start seeing different people_. And there she now stood. She’d been walking behind Natalya. She’d been texting someone but finally looked up when she noticed that she couldn’t continue moving.

Describing Lucy is difficult. She has curly dark hair, a freckled tanned face and childish looking eyes. Her face is small and she looks like a very energetic young woman. Our eyes met and a smile formed on her lips. ‘Arthur.’ _Alright act cool. Don’t be freaky._ ‘Hello Lucy.’ Natalya was obviously sensing some tension going on since she slowly backed off. She didn’t even give an excuse, she just didn’t care.

‘How’ve you been doing? It’s been a while since we’ve talked.’ She was obviously taking me in. I felt uncomfortable. ‘I guess so. I’m doing very well. How about you?’ Lucy has no clue what personal space is. She put her hand on my shoulder and I tried not to back off. ‘Oh I’m alright. Just the usual. Do you still live in London?’

I nod. At this point I just wanted to tell her I needed to go. But as always Lucy has the control in what will happen next. That’s just the type of person she is. ‘Me too, but I’ve moved tough. My parents divorced and you now my dad right? I didn’t feel like staying with him at all. I live in Islington now. Didn’t that one friend of yours life there too?’

I felt frozen as she tried to remember his name. ‘It was James right?’ Every summer I would return back to London. And every summer my best friend James would be waiting for me. But when I got together with Lucy they had to share my attention. James had never been fond of Lucy. And she never showed any warm feelings for him either.

‘Do you still hang out with that guy?’ Her face is very open and friendly, but it has something nasty to it. Something you can’t notice until you’ve known her a bit longer. She was judging me. ‘No. He moved away. We lost contact after… you know… the thing.’ She opens her mouth to say something but is cut off by Alfred.

Suddenly he stands between us. ‘If it isn’t Miss Collins. It’s been a while huh?’ He turned to me. Something in Alfred’s cheerful expression seemed cold. ‘I’ve been looking all over for you Artie. I wondered if you know where the Newspaper Club holds their meetings?’ It was an odd question. ‘Alfred you know that you can ask Kiku right?’ He quickly shook his head. ‘Couldn’t find him anywhere.’

He turned to Lucy again. He was giving her a nasty glare. ‘ _So sorry_ to interrupt you guys. But I really need to lend him from you for a second. I feel like I might get lost if he doesn’t show me the way properly. But you can catch up later right?’ Lucy seemed amused by it all. ‘Of course, I need to go anyway. Maybe we can speak later Arthur.’ Her voice had a sharp and cold undertone to it.

Before I could properly say goodbye Alfred was already dragging me away. ‘What is the meaning of this?’ I tried to free my hand from his grip but he didn’t allow it. ‘Alfred let me go!’ When we entered a deserted hallway he finally let go of me. ‘Alfred what are you thinking?’ His cold expression had finally melted a bit. He looked slightly embarrassed now. ‘You don’t have to thank me.’ I shake my head slightly and push him away.

‘You can’t just barge in and expect everything to go as you please. I was _talking_ with her Alfred!’ A frown slowly made his way on Alfred’s face. ‘And that was exactly the problem. I don’t know if you’ve forgotten, but she’s a cold hearted bitch. She hurt you pretty bad and I’ve definitely not forgotten or forgiven her yet.’

‘It’s none of your business what my history with her is. Who do you think you are?! You’re acting childish and stupid.’ He leaned, pointing at me accusingly. ‘For your information: I AM YOUR FRIEND. You’re the one acting stupid!’ His face had gotten red with frustration and he did a step back.

‘I pulled you away because she was getting at you again. She thinks she can get _whoever_ she wants _whenever_ she wants. And you were walking right into it! I pulled you away from her to protect you from getting hurt again!’ I shook my head.

‘Sure keep denying it. But don’t go crying to me when she hurts you again!’ I rolled my eyes in frustration. ‘Stop acting like a jealous little kid for once in your life time. I would never fall for someone like her again.’ He put his hands together to calm himself down. ‘Well that sure didn’t look that way.’ Whenever Alfred gets in high spirits about something he loses control over his actions.

His face got red like a tomato as he added. ‘And I wasn’t jealous.’ I let out a deep sigh. _If we continue we might start saying things we will regret later on._ ‘Listen Alfred, I appreciate that you are looking out for me. But I can take care for myself alright? I don’t need your interference or your guidance. I know what I’m doing. Just remember that next time.’ Alfred still seemed ready for the attack, still looked ready to yell at me. But now he looked confused. Very confused. ‘So I was reading the situation wrong?’ I nodded and put my hand on his shoulder.

‘There is absolutely nothing between me and Lucy anymore. Whatever there was has been long gone after what she’s done.’ Slowly he started breathing slower again. ‘Are you sure?’ I take his hand as manner of comfort. ‘I’m sure. Don’t worry.’ A silence fell. But it was a comfortable one. ‘I’m sorry I screamed at you.’ He softly said. I let out a sigh. I hugged him tightly. _Ignore what you feel. Ignore what you think._

That’s what I kept telling myself as my heart raised. A bit hesitant he put his arms around me. I felt comfortable in his arms. But I felt it might start getting awkward at this point. So slowly I pulled away. I created some more space between us. Alfred’s eyes are a very clear blue. Like the sky. At they have something magnetic. ‘You’re a great friend, Alfred.’ Saying those words felt robotic. Felt forced. Something in his face closed up.

‘Yeah… you too.’ And suddenly the air felt different. The tension was gone. And for some reason I felt disappointed. He coughed and I decided to start a different subject. ‘Anyway, do you really need help looking for the Newspaper Club?’ He laughed. But something about it sounded off. ‘Nah that was just an excuse. I know where they are.’

‘Good.’ We both looked ready to leave. ‘Well I need to go now. Feliciano is waiting for me.’ Curiosity took the better of me. ‘Feliciano? Is this for the interview?’ Slowly he picked up his bag. Today Alfred wasn’t wearing his usual bomber jacket. It was probably still in the dryer. Instead he wore the blue jacket. It looked odd on him.

‘Yes, it’s gonna be pretty interesting.’ ‘It’s _going to be_ interesting. Not gonna.’ A half-hearted smile formed on his lips. ‘Yeah, and by the way we still have two days to go until we get our superpowers back.’ _Superpowers_ , it sounded so childish. As he turned to the left corner, I decided to keep straight ahead. I kept thinking about our little fight. I felt as if somewhere, I’d said something wrong and made a mistake. Quickly I shook my head. _What’s the matter with you Kirkland? Get your act together._ It’s odd but three weeks had gone by rather quickly.

Outside autumn was still far away. It had been raining for a few days but today the sun was clearly visible again. I slowed down when I saw a familiar door. On the sign was written:

**Club for witchcraft and wizardry.**

** Enter if you dare. **

Under the sign was another one that said open in big screaming letters. The Magic Club. I was actually not allowed near the club house yet, but in a spur of the moment I decided I didn’t care. I knocked on the door. A pair of fake red eyes opened the door slowly. ‘Greetings traveller. Who is it that seeks wisdom from-’ I cut him off before he could ramble up his entire speech. ‘It’s me Vladimir, Arthur let me in.’

He didn’t move. ‘Tell me the secret password.’ I rolled my eyes. ‘Don’t be a douche Arthur. Just do it. You already ruined my cool speech so just play along for once.’ I tried to just give in to his request. ‘It is I the great wizard Arthur.’

‘And what are thy secret words?’

‘HARRY DID YOU PUT YOUR NAME IN THE GOBLET OF FIRE! He said calmly.’ Any normal person would have been startled by my sudden yelling. But Vladimir smiled and opened the door. ‘Please enter.’ When I walked in I noticed everything looked the same as always. All curtains were closed for dramatic effect, books were neatly put on the bookshelves, and in the corner I saw an unfished game of chess.

What however was new, was that I didn’t see my fairy friends. When he saw my questioning look he nodded. ‘They’re here, they’ve been hanging in here for quite a while. We heard about what happened from Flying Mint Bunny, about your powers and stuff. That sucks.’ Vladimir sat down again and continued reading.

Vladimir Dragomir is a 5th year student from Romania. He has strawberry blond hair, and likes to pretend that he is in fact a vampire. That’s why he wears the fake red contact lenses. And not that long ago, I figured out he was an actual wizard like me. I’d been making my way towards my next class when I saw him in the hallway. He was talking with the air, when he noticed me he waved. A bit confused I waved back.

Apparently he’d been talking to a tree spirit. There were no hard feelings between us tough. ‘Hey Arthur, what are you doing here?’ I looked at the corner. Lukas Bondevik was standing above a boiling cauldron. In the light of the blue glowing substance he looked quite surreal. ‘I decided to pay you guys a visit. What are you making Lukas?’

Lukas Bondevik (who you can guess is also a wizard) comes from Norway. His serious (slightly disturbing) eyes stared at the Book of Ednob. It looks like the Book of Krik, but is slightly different. ‘A relaxation potion.’ The room smelled strongly like lavender. ‘Are you sleeping badly?’

He scratched his light blond hair. ‘It’s not for me. It’s for Magnus.’ Magnus was the other guy who’d fallen into a coma at the night of the plane crash. And last week he’d finally woken up. I hadn’t seen him yet. But apparently Lukas had. ‘How’s he doing so far?’ He shook his head as he took a spoon and threw something in the boiling water.

‘Not good. He might have to stay in his room a little while longer before he has completely recovered.’ Lukas and Magnus had been friends as long I could remember. So it didn’t surprise me that Lukas sounded worried. ‘He’ll be fine. Can I help you out?’ I made my way towards the potion. The Book of Ednob was written in old runes that I could not decipher.

‘Could you stir this for a while? I need to get some more ingredients.’ I took the spoon and started stirring. After a few minutes, someone knocked on the door. Vladimir carefully opened the door to deliver his speech again. A female voice answered and he opened the door with a sour expression. ‘Why does Lukas keep inviting you bitch?’ He hissed.

Elizabeta walked in. She gave him the finger before waving at me. ‘Because I’m the only one with the right herbs in my garden to help out you asshole.’ Vladimir and Elizabeta are like a cat and a dog. They just can’t get along. Elizabeta’s long brown hair was messier than normal, and a pink flower was in it today.

Lukas followed behind her. Both were carrying baskets with plants. Lukas quickly made his way towards the cauldron and threw in some of the green leaves that smelled like mint. He took the spoon from my hands and mumbled a quiet thank you. Elizabeta and Vladimir were still arguing in the background as I asked Lukas a question. ‘What is Elizabeta doing here?’ Lukas is not a quiet person (like Kiku) he’s more of a spacey one.

‘A week ago, I was desperately searching for Kava at the gardens. But nobody had the specific type I was searching for. When Elizabeta noticed she grew some for me. After that she told me that if I ever needed anything, I could always go to her for my ingredients.’

At this point Elizabeta and Vladimir were trying to see who could come up with the best insults. ‘Annoying bitch.’ She frowned. ‘Wannabe Edward.’ He shook his head. ‘Vampires don’t sparkle!’ She smirked. ‘Only the gay ones like you.’ Lukas and I were watching the show in silence. ‘Should we drive them apart?’ He raised his shoulders to show his disinterest. At this point the potion had gotten a deep dark blue colour.

Standing beside it already made me feel extremely relaxed. ‘You’re really good at this.’ Lukas nodded. ‘I had a good teacher. Soon she will teach you too.’ He looked up from the instructions, he looked at me curiously. ‘I wonder what you’ll be good at.’

‘SELF-ABSORBED ASSHOLE!’ ‘WHINING TREE BITCH.’ ‘WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?’

‘Elizabeta?’ She turned to me. A sweet smile had returned on her face. ‘Yes Arthur?’ ‘Why did you never tell me you were part of the SA Program?’ She laughed. ‘You know why. It’s top and top secret.’ She gave Vladimir one last nasty look before making her way towards us. ‘Despite, it wouldn’t have changed me as a person. I’ve been able to bend the earth and nature for as long as I can remember. Going to this school is the best thing I’ve ever done.’ Her green eyes shined, her cheeks became even redder.

‘I would have never met Roderich if I’d stayed in Hungary.’ Roderich is this guy that she’s been in love since forever. ‘Is he also a SAP student?’ Quickly she shook her head. ‘Oh no, he’s normal. Just like Gilbert and Ludwig.’ That surprised me a bit. ‘Those two didn’t get anything odd from Mister Beilschmidt?’ Vladimir sat down in the corner again and started reading again. ‘Nope, they are as far as we know, normal as can be. Your friend Kiku is normal too, as is my friend Milos.’ Lukas who was busy pouring the steaming potion in a glass silently added: ‘My little brother Emil is also normal.’

We had some fun with Elizabeta demonstrating her powers. She made the few plants in the room enormous and Vladimir summoned some stones so that she could sweep them around. ‘That’s incredible, what else can you do?’ Elizabeta looked away as if the question was painful. ‘Well… that’s it actually.’ It surprised me. But I decided not to keep the subject on something that made Elizabeta uncomfortable.

‘Well it’s time I go. I had two study hours. But it’s almost time to go to my next class so I’ll make my way to ancient history now.’ Vladimir let out a deep sigh. ‘That means you’ll be going too, right Lukas? I don’t want to be alone here.’ I looked at the book he was reading. Twilight. He was reading that _piece of crap_? ‘Don’t worry you’ll be just fine.’

Lukas was going through his bag. ‘I’ll have to go to my room first. I’ve forgotten to pack my books. You can go ahead without me Arthur.’ We all said our goodbyes and quickly I made my way towards the third floor. It was when I walked into someone who was struggling with an enormous pile of papers that I stopped. ‘Are you alright?’

The boy mumbled something in a language I didn’t speak. I was surprised he had managed so far without falling. ‘Uhm shall I help you out?’ The boy was so busy not trying to fall down that he simply made a happy noise. I quickly took half his weight and his face became visible. He had a soft friendly face, with clear blue eyes and almost white blond hair. It was Tino Väinämöinen. ‘Oh hello Arthur, thank you for helping! You’re too kind.’

It’s not that I dislike Tino, he’s very friendly. It’s just that… ‘Tino, what’s going on?’ Tino’s boyfriend had arrived. Berwald Oxenstierna, Tino’s _boyfriend_. When the Finnish Tino and the Swedish Berwald had declared that they were a couple two years ago, all the girls started squealing. They _loved_ it. Most guys were supportive too. But some people still thought that it was something… wrong. ‘Ah Berwald! I thought let’s make some copies of the posters right? But they were a lot and I thought I could carry it. But it is a lot heavier than it looks like. Luckily Arthur came around.’

I smiled awkwardly and the tall Swedish boy. Berwald is… scary. He’s tall, intimidating, has a pair of glasses that are way too big for him and he is a man of few words. That someone like him likes boys was quite the surprise to say the least. ‘I see.’ He took a bit from my pile and a bit of Tino’s and made his way towards their club house.

‘So these are the posters for the Halloween party? That’s in October. Aren’t you a bit early?’ I try not to make things awkward. Tino and Berwald don’t know how I feel about them. And it’s something that I want to keep hidden from them. Tino shakes his head. He and Berwald are both in the organisation apartment of the different parties that get organized throughout the year. ‘No these are posters for our other club.’

I tried to get a look of the posters but failed. ‘The Nordic one?’ Berwald suddenly stops walking as he tried to knock on the door. Tino didn’t have to tell me that I was wrong again. As I read the sign I felt a chill going over me.

LGBT Community Centre

Alright I guess I can’t avoid the subject anymore ladies and gentlemen. Yes I am talking to _you_. Maybe someone is listening to these recordings. Maybe next week, maybe over hundreds of years. I don’t know. But so far I’ve been very good at hiding something from you. But let’s just face it now. Before things get confusing or you really start to hate me.

In my opinion homosexuality is… a phase. My mother always told me that sometimes people get confused. They become desperate for love and seek it in places that they would usually never look. You hate me? Well I don’t blame you. But let me tell you: This all was in the past. The me that is telling this story to the recorder _right now_ , thinks differently about it.

I can understand if you hate me. So just to inform you, in the future things will change my mind. But in that very moment that I walked into the LGBT club house, I felt uncomfortable. I wasn’t even that religious. I did happen to believe in a higher power, but I was up to interpretations about it. I was actually quite open-minded about faith. But when it came down to love and desire, well I had a very firm believe.

Most of my friends didn’t really now my opinion on this subject. For the simple reason that Francis is openly bisexual, Matthew is supportive of LGBT rights and Alfred… well I guess he agrees with his brother. Usually when the topic did come up in debate I would try to avoid giving my opinion. I’m no hater, but it’s more like… back then I just really thought homosexuals were ill people. And they just needed to get better.

I finally got a good look at the picture. All kinds of weird words were written on it. After every word was a question mark. A date and time were given and the address of the club house. ‘A lot of people aren’t well informed about different sexualities. That’s why we’ve decided to organize a day at which everyone can visit us and asks us questions.’ Tino smiled as he told me all about it. I honestly didn’t know what to feel or how to react.

‘Francis always tells me he is bisexual, what does that mean?’ The question has left me before I can stop myself. Tino seems even more excited now. ‘Well bisexuality is when you like both people of your own gender and people of the opposite gender.’ That sounded confusing. ‘Isn’t that what it means to be gay?’ Berwald shakes his head. ‘When you are gay, you don’t like girls.’ That had to be bollocks.

Maybe they saw my confusion because Tino put a hand on my shoulder. ‘Why don’t you visit us at the question day? We will tell you all about it.’ Something in his look became serious. ‘I know… that you have a certain idea about homosexuality Arthur. And I don’t hate you for that. You were simply badly informed. If you can allow yourself to be more open-minded on the subject… then please visit okay?’ He saw my doubt. ‘Just give it a chance. You might get something out of it.’ He handed me a poster.

‘Now of you!’ One moment I was surrounded by LGBT posters. The next moment I was standing in the hallway. I stared at the poster in my hand. The biggest text said: **You never know for sure!** I made my way towards ancient history, I quickly sat down next to a random classmate. But in my head the poster’s text kept repeating itself. _You never know for sure huh? That’s what James said before he kissed me._ Also a story that I try to wipe from existence…

I’d almost fallen down as I made my way out of the car. I was fourteen and had returned to London for the summer. Standing in front of my house was James. He’d gotten taller again. The asshole. His messy hair was hanging in his eyes and a big grin could be found on his face. ‘Jesus that took you long enough.’ I shook my head. ‘I’ve obviously been gone too long. My name is Arthur not Jesus remember?’

When we’d moved to London I’d been scared I’d never get to find a good friend. So I was happy that my mother met Miss Jefferson at church. She told me that Miss Jefferson had a son, James. And if I went to her on Sunday, I could meet him. (Since I’d stop going to church last year.) So I did. And we turned out to become best friends.

‘You did bring your guitar right?’ He was tapping with his feet. James lived for music. He’d been drumming since he was six and had never stopped. ‘Of course how else-’ I fell quiet as I stepped closer. ‘You dyed your hair.’ It was a fact, a statement. His dark brown hair looked lighter. He nodded and took a few strands between his fingers. ‘You like it?’ James is as pale as the dead. Whenever he stepped into the sunlight his skin started getting red. He often joked it was because he was a vampire of some sort.

‘Yeah, it looks good.’ My mother packed out some stuff and my little brother Peter was already running towards the garden. ‘I was actually thinking of dyeing my hair green.’ He looked up, a big smile on his face. ‘What like your eyes?’ I shook my head. ‘No more like shamrock green.’ James went to school in London. His mother, who was a divorced free-thinking woman, could _somehow_ get along with my mother very well.

Every summer James and I would hang out. We weren’t very fond of texting and preferred writing letters to each other once a month. James has always been aware of my weird tricks. How I could talk with creatures he couldn’t see, how I saw people others didn’t. He believed it too be a cool thing. ‘My mum says that if you can do special things, you should not be ashamed of yourself.’ He once told me, we were sitting in his back garden.

‘You’re gonna start your fourth year soon right?’ I nodded. ‘I think it’s going to be a great year. I wish you could meet my friends James. I think you would like Kiku a lot. He can draw really well. And Alfred can play the guitar rather nicely too.’ James smiled. ‘What about the French guy you hate? I’d like to meet him. I think he and I would get along just fine.’ He laughed when I shook my head. ‘Francis is an ass trust me.’

‘You’re only saying that because you have too much pride. I bet you really care about all of them, even Francis.’ He nodded. ‘They sound like nice people Arthur. I’m glad you’ve found such good friends.’ James’ face suddenly looked concerned. ‘Hey what’s wrong?’

‘We’ve been friends for a long time now. You won’t just leave me right?’ He grabbed my hand. ‘James what makes you think that? I would never simply abandon you.’ He nodded, his hair fell in his face again. He needed a haircut. ‘Listen because I talk about my friends a lot. Doesn’t mean that I will replace you for them. You’re no Alfred or Kiku or Francis. You’re you. And I’m glad that you are who you are.’

Over the summer we grew very close. But I always felt as if James wanted to tell me something, but he never found the courage to do so. So I guessed he’d tell me when he was ready to. When I returned next summer I was dating Lucy. James and she seemed to get along just fine on the surface. But when I asked Lucy what she thought of James, her face got this weird look. And she stated that she found him a bit strange.

James’ opinion on Lucy was even worse. ‘You want to hear the nice version? Or the brutal honest version?’ I was a bit surprised by his tone. ‘Well how does the nice version sound?’ He leant back, mindless ticking with his drumsticks on his desk. ‘Well, she seems nice. And as long as she makes you happy I don’t mind her hanging out with us.’

I made myself comfortable on his bed. ‘And what is it you really want to say?’ He looked up, his grey eyes got something fierce. ‘I don’t like her Arthur. Something about her is very off. Listen I know I’ve never been in a proper relationship, so I’m actually not to judge. But I don’t think she really likes you.’ Of course that conversation ended up making us fight. And the next day it was just Lucy and I.

Over the course of the summer Lucy told me to just give him space. So I was quite surprised when he visited my house one night. I’d been convinced he wouldn’t be returning soon. ‘James?’ He seemed more tense than usual. ‘Can I come in?’ Lucy’s mum would pick me up in twenty minutes. But I decided that Lucy could probably wait. ‘Sure.’ I opened the door further and James quickly made his way towards my room.

It was the only room in the house in which we could have some privacy. Since Allistor was on holiday with his friends, Seamus was traveling with Uncle Michael and Aunt Róisín to Ireland and so Dylan and Peter were forced to share a room. Since I’d reached a phase in which I just really needed some personal space.

Once we sat down I noticed he looked nervous, extremely nervous. In that moment I felt hopeful, we’d been through worse fights, this one would go the same. We’d just apologize and continue on. But I was wrong. ‘Arthur I’ve been meaning to tell you something.’ I’d waited for a very long time to hear this. ‘I know. I noticed, but I didn’t want to freak you out. So I just waited.’ He nodded, fumbling with his fingers.

‘It’s something about who I am, as a person. And a lot of people don’t know it yet. Only my mother knows. But I’ve kept it secret for you for a while now. A little bit more than a year, and I think it’s time you know.’ He looked up, and suddenly he seemed to tense up even more. ‘I can’t apologize for what I said about Lucy.’ I felt irritated. ‘Did you just try to change the subject?’ He ignored me and simply continued.

‘I know you like her, but I just really want you to hear me out: She’s not-’ I cut him off before he could continue his stupid babblings. ‘James I’ll decide for myself who I like. You have no right in this situation whatsoever to judge her. Despite, you just changed the subject! What were you going to say?’ He shook his head.

‘I doesn’t matter.’ ‘It does, it troubles you. Why don’t you trust me?’ ‘Why don’t _you_ trust me?’ ‘Because you try to tell me what to do with my life. And you have obvious trust issues. I thought I was your friend?!’

He started raising his voice. ‘I am Arthur. I’m trying to explain-’ I didn’t want to hear it. ‘Please what do you know about love?’ He snapped. James is difficult to get angry. But I’d finally managed.

‘I like you!’

I felt as if I got punched in the stomach. I’d heard that wrong right? James fearful expression told me otherwise. Apparently some sort of invisible barrier had been past. Since the words started flooding out of him. ‘I’m gay Arthur. I figured it out when I was twelve. You remember my friend Dennis right? Well we were in a relationship. And I wasn’t always in love with you. But the last few years…’ He gave me a desperate look.

‘Listen I was afraid to tell you, because I know how you feel about this stuff. But I don’t think it is as they tell us. I tried to like girls Arthur. _I really tried._ But I just… It just didn’t click.’ He shook his head in frustration. ‘The people who do know are all fine with it Arthur. But you are important to me, and you needed to know. I like you, really like you. And that girl Lucy? She’s not really in love with you. I would know!’

I’d never been lost for words before. But no matter where I looked, I was still completely baffled. ‘Please say something.’ It was the last thing he said before falling into complete silence. ‘James, why would you think that I would hate you?’ He looked up, he looked so scared. ‘You don’t hate me. You pity me don’t you?’ I tried to find words to comfort him. Because he’s still my friend and all.

‘Don’t worry about it James. Sometimes when I look at guys, I also feel attracted to them. But then I just remind myself that it’s wrong, and then I-’ He seemed surprised. ‘You feel attracted to boys?’ He stopped staggering around. I quickly shook my head. ‘Sometimes, I dream about kissing them and stuff. But then I met Lucy and I really like her. So don’t worry about it. It’s just puberty messing with you. It happens to the best of us.’

He comes closer. ‘Are you sure you are not gay Arthur? A lot of gay people fool themselves into thinking that they like girls.’ I shake my head in irritation. ‘You’re wrong. It’s precisely the other way around. I’m hundred percent certain I like girls and _only_ girls.’ James slowly shook his head. ‘You never know for sure. None of us do.’ With those words he leans in and kisses me. As far as I could remember, it was the first time that a guy kissed me.

I thought I would find it repulsive. But instead I’m surprised how normal it feels. Just a pair of warm lips. Nothing strange or weird, if I closed my eyes I could probably imagine that I was kissing a girl. But then the thought process stopped and made place for panic. I still felt wrong, weird. I pulled him away, ‘what do you think you are doing?!’ I felt anger boil in me. How dared he?

I felt a breeze in the room. I turned to the door immediately and noticed my mother and Lucy. My mother was standing there, a horrified expression on her face. Lucy’s eyes had gotten big with surprise, in her hand I noticed she was holding her phone. She quickly put it away. Slowly my mother pointed at James. ‘Get out. And don’t you dare to return.’ I’d never seen her so angry. Her face was calm, almost stoic. But her eyes were spitting poison. James quickly stood up and left the house.

After the incident he tried to call me a few times. He also wrote me letters, but I ignored them. But one day he stopped. In the end I called him remember? It was a few weeks ago, the night after the thunderstorm with Alfred. When he picked up his phone our conversation started out painful. But we both apologized for all that had happened.

After the painful part was over we shared information. Apparently Lucy had made pictures of our kiss and put it on James’ school site. There was a forum on which all students could share information. It had gone viral and soon everyone knew that James was gay.

He had no choice in the matter. He’d been forced out of the closet by Lucy. I apologized for what Lucy had done. He said that he was glad that I’d broken up with her. Apparently he was doing better now. He was doing well at school, and he’d met someone he liked. But the situation kept feeling slightly tense between us. I explained that he’d probably messed me up in some weird way. Since I had difficulties dealing with my feelings for a certain person.

He started laughing. His reaction was simple: ‘Don’t worry, being gay is not contagious. If you have feelings for Alfred then that’s your own damn fault. You have two options: You either keep denying until you drop dead. Or you take a long hard look in the mirror and ask yourself what makes you happy.’ After that the line dropped dead. When I tried to call again the next day his mother picked up, and kindly explained to me that James didn’t feel like talking to me.

‘He needs time dear.’ She’d simply said. She was probably right. I’d been selfish to push him aside. And suddenly when I needed someone to talk to I forced him back into my life. If I’d been James I would’ve also told myself to bugger off. He didn’t need me. But I did need him. It was painful, which meant it was the truth.

‘Arthur are you listening?’ I looked up. Apparently I’d spaced out since my history teacher was looking at me expectantly. ‘Sorry I didn’t catch that last part?’ It was a bad excuse, and my teacher wasn’t stupid. ‘Keep your eyes open and your mind at the Prussians. Otherwise you will fail the upcoming test.’ She looked around. ‘The same goes for all of you, this will be a challenging test, trust me.’

When I woke up two days later I felt different. Something felt right. I quickly sat up straight and looked at the date. A bit hesitant I opened my hand and I managed to summon the Book of Krik. A smile formed on my face. My powers had returned. A chill went over my spine, it was cold. Ivan was already awake and was trying to open his frozen desk. When he saw me staring he smiled. ‘Good morning Arthur. Would you mind getting my gloves? It seems that everything has been frozen over.’ _We had our abilities back._

That same night we had to patrol. Ivan and Matthew took the gardens. Yao and Francis were keeping watch at the dorms. And Alfred and I took the main building. Everything had been going like usual, boring and typical. Alfred kept floating around like he was bloody Peter Pan, giggling happily as he hit is head at the ceiling.

It was when I saw a cloaked figure that I felt confused. That usually didn’t happen. It was probably a student joking around tough. When I tried to get a hold on the person he or she started running. It was then that Alfred and I knew something was up. We started chasing the intruder. But as you know, I lost them.

Soon the others came to my aid and we started searching together. In the end I found Alfred locked in the ladies bathroom. He seemed unconscious at first. But after some firm shaking he woke up and gave me the strangest look. ‘Did I catch him?’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah...  
> 1\. Vladimir Dragomir = Romania  
> 2\. Tino and Berwald = is love xD  
> 3\. I LOVE the Magic Club  
> 4\. Francis is openly bisexual, it's so fanon/canon  
> 5\. Lukas Bondevik = Norway  
> 6\. I really have to make up for this bad chapter. Next chapter will be better. I PROMISE.  
> 7\. I'm still trying to update once a month. But school will start again soon... I'll try my best.  
> 8\. If you're still reading: Then congratulations! Because I can't even stand my own writing sometimes...  
> 9\. Milos = Bulgaria and Emil = Iceland  
> 10\. If you got the Harry Potter reference than I love you :D  
> So whoever is reading this: I love you! (Platonic I should mention xD) You're great. Let's just do this stuff okay! If I can try to keep up with my own story than I can manage to write a Christmas special around Christmas ;)
> 
> Bye! Bye!
> 
> ~ Suus-Arido


	15. Chapter 14 - Matthew: No man is an island

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I'm back! School was killing me, also I started getting a nasty cold. But let's start this chapter shall we?

_I have so much to offer But you don’t give me a chance,_ ~ The Invisible Half, Part V

_Sometimes I miss Canada_. That’s the thought that pops into my brain as I stare at my laptop’s screen. Alfred has always been a patriot. Proud to be an American. I on the other hand always enjoyed living in Canada. I liked the people, the way of living, I felt like I belonged. Sure, it was nice to spent time with Uncle Davie and Alfred. But I was most happy at home.

Me, mom and our tiny apartment. Mom making dinner and me making homework. Everything changed when dad died. But even then, I’d never understood why mom suddenly sent us away to England. But now that I knew about SAP I felt as if mom knew.

Words had still not found their way on the screen in front of me. Why was it so difficult to mail her? I shook my head in frustration I just had to type and soon enough it would all start making sense.

**To:**                   E.Williams@gmail.com  
 **Subject:** Hey

_Hey mom, how are you?_

I stared at the sentence and then quickly deleted it again.

_Mom, we need to talk._

Too serious? Too rude? I mean it’s difficult. How do you write: _Hey, is it by any chance true that you know about the SA Program and our powers? Would be great if you’d answer soon._

I wrote it down like that. And after staring at the words for maybe a minute or so, realized how utterly ridiculous it sounded. _Delete. Delete. Delete_. ‘Hey Birdy, why the long the face?’ I looked up reluctantly. ‘Gilbert, what did I say about nicknames? Please stop it.’ He was hanging on his bed, not doing anything useful in particularly. Gilbert is usually too lazy (or bored as he says it) to do his homework. ‘Wow calm down Moosie, I was just trying to-’

‘Did you just you just call me Moosie?’ ‘Maybe-’ ‘Please don’t, this is a very serious and important matter okay?’

Quickly he sat up straight. ‘Is math homework really that tricky?’ I chuckled. ‘It surprises me that you even know that we _have_ math homework.’ He laughed too and showed me his math book, which he’d hidden under his bed together with all the other school books. ‘If I can’t see them they don’t exist.’ He declared as he threw it back.

I looked at the screen again, I was back where I started. An empty page and trembling hands. ‘You know I’ve actually already finished my homework. I’m just trying to write to my mother. But it’s trickier than I thought it would be.’ I trailed off as I looked outside. Rain again. The warm weather suddenly from August suddenly felt like a dream. September had been a nasty month indeed.

‘Is writing to your mother really that big of a deal?’ He seemed amused by it all. ‘Well I’m going to be honest with you. It is.’ He put a piece of gum in his mouth as he tried to stand on his hands. ‘From a scale from 1 to 10 how life changing is it?’ I stole the package and also took a piece. He tried to stop me but to no avail. He fell on the ground. ‘It’s absolutely a 10.’ Quickly he scrambled up.

‘Want to talk about it with me? I can give you awesome advice if you’d like me to.’ I hesitated. I couldn’t tell him everything. I didn’t know for sure if he was a SAP student yet. ‘Well… I can’t tell you everything but I think she has lied about something for quite a while now. And it could change a lot of stuff.’

‘Let me guess, you and Alfred are twins.’ I gave him an odd look. ‘Twins? What are you talking about?’ When he saw my questioning look he did his weird laugh and stood up. ‘Forget I said anything.’ He made his way towards the shelves on his side of the room. He put on his reading glasses and looked at the different books.

Let me just tell you something about those. All those books? Those are his diaries. He currently has around 15 of them. He keeps joking that someday he’ll have an entire library of them. ‘Bingo! Diary number 10!’ He started browsing through it. ‘Gilbert what are you doing?’ He looked up quickly. ‘Helping you of course!’ He stopped going through the pages. ‘Ah there we go. It’s all in German but I’ll translate it for you.’ He cleared his throat in dramatic effect. ‘Chapter 158, dear diary I was very awesome today! Stupid Eliz was acting weird tough.’ He was reading out loud dramatically.

‘I’ve only known him for a few days now. But he’s not very awesome. I never see him around the boy dorms, and other people always laugh whenever we talk together. Today however I discovered his fatal weakness. And tomorrow I’ll attack him and proclaim my victory!’

He waited for my response. ‘How’s this supposed to help me?’ He closed the book. ‘Well you know what happened next, this should help you out! Learn from the awesome me.’ He grinned, seeming very happy with his own advice. ‘I know what happened alright. You thought for the longest of times that Elizabeta was a boy.’

He quickly came to his own defence of course. ‘She was wearing the boy uniform!’ I shook my head. ‘Because something had gone wrong with the measures of her own!’ I could see his face becoming tomato red. ‘None of you corrected me that her name was Elizabeta instead of Eliz!’ He was hiding his face as the embarrassment took over. ‘Because it was funny!’ I couldn’t hold back some laughter as I remembered him groping her. ‘Besides how could we have known that this so called _fatal weakness_ you were planning to- to-’

I couldn’t breathe as I held back the tears. ‘Gilbert you groped her! Only then you realized that she was a girl. Your face was so priceless.’ A few snickers left him. ‘Yeah I guess it was kind of funny. But man what I am trying to say is: Don’t just make assumptions. Maybe your mother kept a secret. Maybe she did it because it was funny, maybe because you were saver not knowing maybe she didn’t want to hurt you. Who knows her reasons? You should carefully consider her feelings too okay.’

It became quiet. _That was surprisingly deep and thoughtful of Gilbert._ ‘I mean, you don’t want to end up like me. Randomly touching a girl’s chest because of some weird random assumption you made.’ _And there is the Gilbert I know._ ‘Thanks…’ He stood up and gave me a firm pat on the shoulder. ‘No problem.’

I stared at the glowing screen again. I quickly looked up when I heard Gilbert shriek in panic. ‘Everything alright?’ From the corner of my eyes I saw him dive for a pillow. ‘Nothing! Just uhm realized I couldn’t find my phone.’ He started looking frantically under the pillow, his hand out of sight. ‘You know it’s on your desk right?’ He looked at his desk, he let out an awkward laugh. ‘Man you’re right, thanks!’

He looked paler than usual. ‘Are you alright? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.’ I stared at his hidden away hand. ‘You didn’t hurt yourself or something?’ He shook his head, letting out an awkward laughter. ‘What are you talking about? Noooo.’ I quickly made my way over to him. ‘You’re a terrible liar, show me.’ He kept insisting he was fine.

I tried to push the pillow aside, but he tried to stop me. ‘You can stop. I am feeling awesome like always. Weren’t you going to mail your mother or something?’ Finally after some struggle I got to see his hand. It seemed normal. Except for the fact that his nails were bitten off again.

A deep sigh left me. ‘What did I tell you about nail biting?’ He looked a bit… confused but soon he started laughing again. ‘Haha sorry, I know I quitted, but you know… stress and stuff.’  I held his hand as if not really sure if it was there or not. In that moment, that detail escaped me. As I had other things to worry about. I deleted the e-mail all together and stared at the background of my computer.

It was a picture of me and my mom at Christmas dinner a few years ago. Alfred always said that I looked like her. And in moments like these I could see the resemblance as well. I closed my laptop and lay down on my bed. Soon dinner would start, and all students were expected to join. I turned to make myself more comfortable. ‘Are you going out tonight Matthew?’

I remembered Alfred’s unconscious face as we found him in the ladies bathroom. _That was almost a week ago, get over it._ ‘No, tonight I’m off duty.’ For a while it stayed quiet as I was reading, and Gilbert was texting someone.

For once I wasn’t happy about the silence that had fallen between us. But I decided to not overthink it. ‘You never told me what you got in trouble for.’ Gilbert spoke up out of the blue. Although he looked uncaring, something in his tone was slightly off. ‘Are you offended by my secrets?’

‘No not at all. But you should know: I know that you think you’re a really good liar. But you’re not. I’ve noticed you’ve been keeping stuff from me.’ I stiffened. ‘So tell me: Why are you lying to me?’ His tone was so serious that I felt too baffled to react. Slowly I looked him in the eyes. He gave me a stern expression that resembled Ludwig’s. ‘Matthew what are you keeping from me?’ I felt trapped to say the least.

‘It’s none of your concerns.’ ‘Why do you have to guard the school at night?’ ‘It’s just to keep students in check.’ ‘What did you guys do to receive that punishment?’ ‘Nothing Gil, we just pissed off your grandfather.’

He gave me a painful expression. ‘You’re not in this alone Matthew. Remember?’ He sat up straight as he took out a letter from under his pillow. ‘I found this lying around. The letter says to meet up at the chemistry lab at 12. You had to take Alfred and Arthur with you.’ He stared at the handwriting. ‘From who is this Matthew? Why did you have to go?’

Quickly I stood up and grabbed the letter from him with all force I owned. ‘That’s none of your business. Don’t peek through my stuff.’ He stood up too. ‘Listen Matthew, we are friends right? Why keep important stuff from me? I _am_ your friend right?’ He didn’t seem to have a lot of fighting spirit today, as he stayed unusually calm.

_I wish Gilbert could know. I really wish he could_. I felt hesitant, Gilbert would probably think of people with powers as awesome. But what if telling him the truth would end up being a terrible decision? ‘I’m a SAP student Gilbert.’ The words left me before I realized it. Gilbert’s frown slightly disappeared. ‘A SAP student… you?’ The fact that he didn’t question SAP made my heart pound. ‘So, you know what SAP is?’ Gilbert slowly nodded. ‘Yeah, it’s like this special program for smart student’s right? My grandpa always hoped I would be a part of it. But I never was, so I guess I failed him.’

My excitement disappeared immediately. ‘Congrats, I’m really proud of you. But how does you joining SAP explain your lies?’ My hands started feeling funny. I got a serious case of the goose bumps. I knew what was about to happen. _For the love of God. This is the absolute worst moment to turn invisible!_ I tried to stop it, I tried to relax. I tried to keep my head empty. But the calmer I tried to become, the more nervous and panicked I started feeling.

‘Listen Gilbert here is the thing.’ I took a deep breath as I tried to casually hide my hands. ‘The letter was a prank letter. I found it in my locker, Alfred read it and you know how he is right? He dragged me and Arthur to the chemistry lab and we got caught by Mister Vadas. We got in trouble.’

Nervously I glanced at the mirror. My hands I’d buried into my pockets, but how was I going to hide for example my neck and face? I tried to calm myself down again, it didn’t work.

‘I kept SAP a secret because nothing was official yet. Also you know I don’t care much about attention.’ My heartbeat slowed down a bit. ‘And I’m sorry I’ve lied about some other stuff too. It’s just that I’ve been under a lot of stress. Alfred and I are going through a difficult period. And it also has to do with our mom. And I don’t know what’s up with Arthur honestly. Maybe he has some family issues?’

I tried to keep my cool. ‘Do you understand Gilbert?’        _In the end…  
_ ‘But…’ He looked guilty.                                                    _Lying turns out…  
_ ‘You’ve had family issues too right?’                                  _To be the only thing…_

_That can keep my friends save._

‘Yeah I did… I’m sorry Matthew. I shouldn’t have pried into your business.’ Slowly he sat down. ‘I just don’t like it when people lie to me…’ We kept quiet for a while. Slowly I gave my hand a look, it was back to normal. Gilbert let out a distant little laugh. ‘My dad lied to me for years that Ludwig’s mother was also mine.’ Slowly he shook his head. ‘I never understood why she didn’t like me. But when dad died, my grandpa came. And he told me. He told me I was just some bastard kid.’ I could hear his voice break as he mumbled some stuff in German.

‘My father’s wife was going to kick me out of the house. My grandpa came to our house. And he picked up my suitcase and looked me dead in the eyes.’ His eyes were slightly watery as he looked at me. ‘You know what he said? He said: Stop crying. Crying is for children. And you will never cry again as long as I am here.’

He quickly rubbed his eyes. ‘Listen to my advice again Matthew: Lying is a way of _escaping_. But in the long run it will cause a lot of pain. Remember that okay?’ The room was oddly quiet as I sat beside him and awkwardly patted him on the head. ‘I’m sorry Gilbert.’ He punched my shoulder, which he did oddly hard for such a soft punch.

‘I’m sorry too. We’re both such assholes.’ He chuckled. He quickly went to our hallway and put on his shoes. ‘Let’s go downstairs. Dinner will probably be starting soon and tonight they have Hasenpfeffer. And I would rather be eating that than sit here acting depressed.’ He stood at the door with a cheerful grin. He acted like nothing ever happened.

But as we left the room he quietly mumbled: ‘Never tell it to Ludwig alright? He doesn’t need to know.’ I simply nodded, as I knew some secrets were not for me to give away.

As we walked downstairs I saw Alfred from the corner of my eyes. He seemed to be wondering around. ‘Hey Al, dinner is ready are you coming with us?’ Slowly he looked up from whatever he’d been doing. He blinked a few times, he seemed scattered. ‘Oh right, dinner and stuff.’ He walked towards us with a bit of hesitation.

‘Are you getting yourself in trouble again Al?’ A cheerful smile made its way towards his face and his frown disappeared. ‘No I’m not.’ Gilbert refrained himself from laughing. I slowly raised my eyebrows. ‘It hasn’t even been _a week_ since you last got yourself in trouble. Can you refrain yourself a little while longer?’

Alfred raised his hands in surrender. ‘I’m not promising anything, you sound just like mom.’ Gilbert tapped his feet together like he was Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. ‘Guys let’s get moving I’m hungry.’ We made our way outside.

We all took a sprint towards the main building, but when we arrived we looked like we climbed out of a pool anyways. ‘Alfred what did you do? Hit your head against the door again?’ Gilbert suddenly mentioned as we all got rid of our coats. Alfred loudly protested and tried to hit Gilbert. But he held him back with one hand stretched out. ‘No he hit his head when he fell. He shouldn’t have been running through the hallway.’ I quickly answered.

Gilbert shook his head. ‘Man you’ve been weak and lazy ever since you stopped training with me. I expect you tomorrow morning at the gym. Because I won’t allow you slacking off any longer!’ I felt pity for Alfred, as I knew that Gilbert’s training routine was like torture, so as the wise person that I was, I kept quiet. My glasses started getting foggy because of the temperature difference, and I quickly started cleaning them to avoid future troubles.

As we made our way to the common room I saw Alfred clutching something. When he saw my questioning look he gave me the (what appeared to be) cards. One image showed someone getting stabbed by ten swords, another one showed an old man on a throne and the last one was the most familiar, The Devil, the card Natalya had been holding during the night of the Summer Festival. ‘These are Tarot Cards, I thought you lost them?’

Alfred raised his shoulder, seemingly disinterested in the topic at hand. ‘Yeah, like a lot of those are probably scattered. But Ivan gave these back to me. Said his sisters had found them.’ I tried handing them back but he shook his head. ‘I don’t want them, they’re useless.’ _Well I didn’t want them either._ ‘I already have a few myself and I don’t want to end up collecting the entire set.’

Before Alfred and I could start an argument Gilbert quickly gave a solution. We just had to give them to Arthur, since he would probably like the cards more than we did. When we finally entered the common room the smell of food made my mouth water. Alfred’s reaction was similar but worse. ‘I could eat an entire horse, I’m telling you Matt!’

I simply nodded and smiled. The room was busy as ever. Students from all ages had gathered. Most sat with friends, the teachers were sitting at the main table and seemed content talking with each other. When we spotted the others we quickly sat down. Alfred immediately started a conversation with Kiku, who politely listened. He quickly put away what appeared to be sketchbook. When I didn’t see Elizabeta anywhere I quickly took a look around the common room. She was eating at another table today.

I recognized the students as last years. Antonio and Gilbert could have sat there. (If they hadn’t screwed up their grades so badly.) She was sitting next to her crush Roderich. They were holding hands. She seemed all sunshine’s and roses about it. His face had turned completely scarlet, he seemed slightly embarrassed. He kept readjusting his glasses.

Elizabeta seemed happy. When she saw us look she giggled and waved. A bit hesitant I waved back. ‘So they’re finally together, about time.’ Gilbert ignored her and instead focused on grumpily throwing spoons at Francis’ back. Elizabeta frowned when she noticed that Gilbert was ignoring her. I felt a bit bad for him. But on the other side: there wasn’t a lot that I could do about it.

I gave dinner a good look. We weren’t allowed to eat yet, but I saw Alfred sneakily grab something. Arthur gave him a firm slap on the hands and told him to wait. A chill went down my spine when I saw Ivan walk past us. He pretended he didn’t see us and sat down a few tables further up. He sat there alone, and I felt slightly bad for him. That’s until Yao joined him. Antonio seemed surprised by this. ‘Am I dreaming or did Ivan make a friend?’ I kept quiet about the fact that those two had probably always been friends.

Arthur raised his shoulders, seemingly not impressed by it. ‘Good for them.’ Ivan and Yao got joined by Ivan’s sister Natalya, who quickly glared at Yao before sitting down. Yao seemed unimpressed and when he saw us he simply nodded politely. Once everyone had found their seats Mister Vargas told everyone to dig in.

A bit hesitant I started filling my plate. I was quite hungry for some reason. Francis who sat next to me was annoying Arthur, but he became more quiet with the minute. At some point I saw him rub his head. ‘Head ache?’ I asked him softly. He nodded, he was sweating but pretended to be alright. Francis seemed to have no control whatsoever over which thoughts he heard. What would it feel like? Constantly having voices in your head?

Always hearing everyone’s nasty and wasteful remarks on everything around them? Francis suddenly snapped and told Alfred to shut up. Alfred’s mouth closed as he looked up at Francis. He had this strange look in his eyes. The same he’d had when we’d found him in the ladies bathroom. Alfred claimed he could not remember anything from that night.

So when Yao had reported everything to Mister Vadas he wasn’t very happy. The school couldn’t do anything without good information. And since everyone could put on a dark cloak and run around the school we had nothing to go from. There was of course the idea that the mysterious person was a girl, but even this was just a mere suggestion.

Ever since that night Alfred had been acting odd. He seemed normal, he acted normal. But it was simply something that I couldn’t quite place. He was still goofy and happy. Still a bit too excited about minor things. And he still got slightly irritated when things didn’t go his way. But it just seemed like an act to me. It was like the best actor in the world had dressed up like my little brother.

And although his acting skills were on point. And although he played a flawless Alfred. I still felt like I could see right through him. But all these thoughts were of course ridiculous. They didn’t make any sense. _Alfred was Alfred_.

He chuckled slightly and apologized for being too loud. But something in his eyes was fierce. Something which I’d never seen before. Francis gave me an interested look. He had of course heard everything I’d thought. And his concerned face told me that he was worried about me.

For a while everything was good and well. But suddenly spoke up behind me. ‘Matthew.’ I looked up. Behind me stood Tessa. She looked a lot better than the last time I’d seen her. She looked less tired, although she still looked dull she would notice this in her grooming. Her hair was in a ponytail today and the scar on her forehead was completely visible now.

‘Tessa?’ I was surprised to see her here. I hadn’t spoken with her in a long time, nor had she even dared to look me in the eyes. But here she was. Her angry frown a bit less angry than usual. Her cold eyes were a bit more nervous too. ‘Matthew I came to apologize.’ My eyes shot at Antonio. He was discussing in rapid Spanish with a friend of his.

He only looked up shortly at the Dutch girl before continuing talking. I felt calmer than usual. Tessa was still a suspect of the plane crash, and she was still someone I was defending. Despite that she had treated me terrible. ‘Apologize?’ Those words sounded foreign. She hardly ever apologized for anything. Yet here she was, looking at me, waiting for some sort of reaction. ‘Why?’ She seemed taken back by my question.

She glanced at the table of people. All of them people she didn’t usually talked to. _She is quite a loner_ , I realized. ‘Can we talk somewhere else? It’s so crowded here.’ I stood up immediately. I suddenly didn’t care for my food anymore. I just wanted to know if she was okay. I was surprised when someone tucked me down again. It was Alfred, he shook his head. ‘Matt what are you doing?’ He sounded so irritated. I freed myself from his superhuman grip. ‘Tessa and I are going to have a chat, we’ll be right back.’ Arthur simply nodded, and the others knew that they should stay out of this.

As we made our way towards the big hall I tried to chat a bit. ‘You look a lot better. Are you still sick?’ She looked guarded but shook her head, ‘no I feel better. Thanks.’ We stood still under the big staircase. She was wearing a scarf. ‘Isn’t it a bit too warm for a scarf?’ I felt like I needed to be careful. She looked like she was made of glass these days. She barely got any sleep, I saw it in her eyes.

‘Matthew I’ve been a terrible friend. I’m sorry for ignoring and abandoning you. I’ve been through some stuff lately. And I’m just sorry…’ She was shaking, her cold demeanour was a wall between us. I briefly smiled. ‘It’s okay, I forgive you. If you don’t want to share it’s alright.’ She shook her head. She pulled away the blue-white striped scarf and showed her neck.

‘Tessa what are you doing?’ She seemed nervous. ‘You need to see something.’ I felt something cold wash over me. _Scars._ Her neck was covered in scars. They were long in nature, like deep knife cuts. She pulled up her shirt so I could see her abdomen. There too were some nasty scars. ‘How did those happen?’ She pulled her clothes straight again and quickly rapped the scarf around her neck again. ‘I got them from the plane crash. I was badly injured, how I survived is something…’ she hesitated.

She never finished her sentence, as we both heard voices. ‘Dude what do you want?’ I recognized Alfred’s voice. The other one was also very common to my ears. ‘Yao said that he wants to discuss some important matters with everyone. So he wondered if you could plan a meeting?’ Ivan sounded a bit more cheerful than usual.

Their footsteps wandered in our direction. I nudged Tessa’s shoulder as I tried to get her to come along with me. She wasn’t supposed to eavesdrop in our secrets. Yao wouldn’t be amused if he knew that Tessa was up to date with our SAP activities.

In the end I got her to move. As we moved away from the conversation we suddenly got startled by what happened next. Ivan said something and suddenly we heard a loud bang. There was shouting and Alfred said something in a threatening voice. I made a 180 and quickly made my way towards the voices.

Alfred held Ivan up against the wall. Ivan’s face was bruised, and I’d never seen my brother this angry. Fury burned in his eyes as he punched Ivan again. The wall behind him slightly cracked by the force. ‘Alfred stop it!’

Alfred turned to me. He seemed to come back to his senses only slightly when he saw me. ‘Matthew?’ Ivan tried to get free, but Alfred was obviously too strong. ‘Move and I’ll snap your neck!’ He warned him, his face got something malicious. Tessa who stood beside me looked quite calm. ‘Is your brother nuts?’ She asked me, a frown formed on her face. _She didn’t understand how serious the situation was. Alfred could crack open Ivan’s skull if he just got angry enough._

‘Alfred what are you doing? Stop it!’ Without hesitation I made my way towards him and tried to pull him off Ivan. Ivan had managed to wiggle out one of his gloves and had put his hand on Alfred’s hand. There was a hiss when Ivan’s ice cold hand touched Alfred’s warm ones. And he let out a pained yelp before letting Ivan go. I kept Alfred away from Ivan, both boys looked furious. ‘What’s going on!?’

Alfred was taking short raged filled breaths. _I hate conflicts. Why do people always have to find conflicts?_ ‘Matthew get out of the way!’ I didn’t move an inch. ‘Alfred please collect yourself, you’re acting weird-’ I got harshly punched in the face. The painful stinging was nothing in comparison with when my head clashed with the ground. I felt dizzy. _Had… had Alfred punched me?_ Ivan and Alfred had both grabbed each other, and Tessa tried to make them stop.

Suddenly the drinking fountain in the corner made an odd sound. A loud pang soon got followed with the water fountain falling from the wall, and water was getting everywhere. _Convenient timing_ , I realized. Alfred got startled by the sudden outburst and slipped. Ivan got hit right in the face by the water and started coughing.

Someone was pulling me up. I blinked a few times and saw Tessa watch me in concern. Her face was extremely pale, she took a deep breath as if tired. ‘Matthew, are you okay?’ I nodded, still a bit dazed. ‘I’m fine. It’s just…’ I looked at Alfred who sat in the middle of the floor, slowly rubbing his head. ‘… I think we should tell the janitors that the floor is changing into a swimming pool.’ Her brown eyes looked less tired as she smiled slightly.

‘Yeah I guess.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah I don't have much to say. Just that I appreciate all of you a lot!  
> Leave a comment if you'd like. :D  
> I try to keep updating once a month, I'm sure I'll be able to handle it!


	16. Chapter 15 - Alfred: In which I'm an asshole

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So hey! Happy (late) Halloween! More things down below.

_Why is no one just whelmed?_ ~ Robin

September ended up being a mess. No powers, chores, homework, terrible weather etcetera. I was expecting October to be better. I kina wanted things to become a bit more normal again. I mean don’t get me wrong. I’d love to go on epic adventures and save the world. But my grades weren’t as great and mom had already sent me an angry rant mail about it. So what could bring back a sense of normalcy?

Halloween of course. Dude I love Halloween. I love, love, love it! I used to dress up every year as a superhero. Superman, Captain America, Batman, you name it! And man you get candy, and nobody blames you for getting scared, and there are hilarious videos on YouTube… So yeah, as you can see: I’m a positive thinker! I was quite convinced everything would make sense eventually. I mean how could I _possibly_ ruin everything?

I knew I’d fucked up when I punched Matthew.

Oh I fucked up. Shit did I fuck up. Punching him _in the face_ was the worst decision I’d ever make. But to my defence: Around that time I didn’t know what came over me. I just had a chat with Ivan about another meeting, and suddenly I wanted to break his skull between my hands. It all happened so quickly. _I felt so angry_. He didn’t do anything to provoke me by the way. He acted nicer than he usually did.

Suddenly Matthew was there. And I knew something was wrong, but I couldn’t say what exactly. And I moved my hands without noticing. I spoke without realizing that those words came out of my mouth. It was all over in a flash. Apparently there was some sort of leak at the drinking fountain. And we just happened to be close to it.

I hit the ground, and man did I suddenly feel tired.

So, what happened when I woke up? My head hurt, I felt dizzy, my eyes opened quickly to take in my surroundings. I was in one of the unused class rooms, and I was tied to a chair. ‘He has woken up.’ Someone declared. I tried to free myself from the tight ropes which made it impossible for me to move my limbs and torso. ‘Fudge where am I?’

Quickly I scanned the room. Yao stood at the door. He looked grouchy. Probably angry that I had caused a scene. He glanced at the door ever minute or so. Making sure no-one saw what was going on here. Sitting behind the teacher’s desk: Matthew, no signs of violence on his face. I squinted my eyes, he was healed by Arthur to cover it all up.

He avoided eye contact, he was definitely pissed. Ivan sat in the far right corner in the back of the room. His usual place to sit down during classes. The desk slightly frozen under his touch. His face also showed no traces of a fight. His piercing blue eyes didn’t leave mine for a second. He looked ready for murder.

Sitting left from me: Francis. He looked a bit like his old self today. Well maintained, no dark bags under his eyes, he’d slept well and was humming a song that frequently appeared on the radio. In front of me was Arthur. He wore one of his old over-sized sweaters and his green eyes gave me a calculating look.

Everyone was here.

‘Hello.’ Arthur said, sounding careful.  
‘Morning.’ I replied.

Arthur held up his magic book. His eyes started glowing green at the gesture. ‘Francis… is he okay?’ He meant if I had any intentions of hurting someone. (Which by the way, I didn’t.) Francis still acted carefree, even a bit amused. ‘Alfred is fine. Nothing to worry about.’ He smirked, as if he knew things we didn’t. I worried slightly at what he’d seen or heard in my head that he found so incredibly amusing.

Arthur turned to me. ‘I am going to free you know. Those ropes are magical, you won’t be able to break them. If you do anything that might provoke me, the ropes will appear again. Do you understand?’ _Jesus he sounds like the terms and conditions that nobody reads_. Francis chuckled at my comparison.

‘Yes.’ Suddenly the ropes disappeared. Slowly I stood up the stretch my sour limbs. ‘Alfred, do you remember what happened?’ I did. I remembered very clearly. ‘Yes, I do.’ Yao still stood at the door, he didn’t say anything. Matthew still looked at the windows, frowning, also not looking or speaking to me.

Francis spoke up: ‘Ivan if you want to say something please do. The floor is all yours and this awkward silence is tremendously awful.’ Ivan seemed surprised. ‘How did you read my mind?’ Francis scratched his chin, something he often did when lying or telling incomplete truths. ‘Didn’t hear it. I saw it in your expression. So go ahead.’

Ivan stood up, he made his way towards me. No caution. Ivan never treated people like they were made of glass, since they often believed he was made of ice himself. ‘Why did you do it?’ Ivan always wears a very open and friendly expression, but something about it is unsettling. It must be his eyes, since those give away his true emotions very well.

 _God he wants to strangle me._ ‘Ivan, I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me. I lost control. I didn’t intend on hurting you…’ I looked at my brother, ‘…or Matthew.’ I hoped Matthew would at least give me a quick glance over. But no, he looked emotionless. ‘I just… I’m so sorry.’ I turned to Ivan, he was still glaring at me. ‘I understand that this won’t just fly over, but at least try to, for now.’

Arthur seemed relieved. ‘Well you’re at least back to normal.’ He gave me a warm smile that made my stomach take a few twists. Yao suddenly moved away from the door. ‘I assume you guys don’t want to get in more trouble than you’re already in?’

 

Matthew chuckled darkly. The first coherent sound he made thus far. ‘Well I suggest we keep this thing under wraps. Arthur I also want you to keep an eye out on Alfred for the next couple of days. Just to make sure this doesn’t happen again. Can you do that?’

Yao never orders. He always requests. I touched my face, nothing hurt. I must have been completely healed by Arthur already. No bruises. ‘Why?’ Yao obviously thought I was asking a stupid question because he mumbled something in Chinese. ‘Because we’re already in trouble enough as it is. If they figure out that you lost control you won’t be the only one they’ll blame.’

Yao moved away from the door, making his way towards us. ‘Matthew’s lady friend Tessa promised not to talk about the fight. She doesn’t seem to suspect anything. She apparently looked rather upset.’ Matthew frowned, like he wanted to say something but decided against it. ‘Anyways she told the janitors about the leak and this time we got away with it.’

I felt something get stuck in my throat. _Guilt_. It pressed down on me harshly. Arthur caught my guilty expression and quickly agreed. He turned to me. ‘Alfred we are going to our first SAP class today remember?’ He was changing the subject. Of course I remembered. But I couldn’t force myself to smile. I just couldn’t.

Everyone was picking up their stuff and leaving. Francis and Yao seemed to discuss something. Both of their expression looked serious. Matthew followed after them. Arthur grabbed his stuff and I was already heading for the door. I failed to do so because Ivan pulled me back. His usual childish eerie smile had turned nasty. ‘Don’t think that all is good and well. We’re definitely not done yet.’ He spoke so softly that I could barely make out what he was saying. I felt those odd emotions well up again.

Anger, rage, it felt consuming. It blinded my vision, I felt my ands tighten into fists. I was going to hurt him again. I almost gave in again but was suddenly pulled back in reality by a soft but strong grip on my hand. ‘Is everything alright here gentleman?’

It was like everything became quiet. I turned to look. Arthur had firmly taken my hand. His look was one of concern and I was surprised that he had freckles. All anger disappeared rapidly from my system. Ivan let out an angry huff and pushed past us and Yao shouted at all of us to hurry up.

But I couldn’t move, my hand felt hot, so did my face. Arthur gave me an odd look and suddenly his hand was gone. This had never happened before. _What was that?_ No time to think, we were moving. And as I looked outside I noticed it was late. My watch kindly informed me it was 9 o’clock. When we reached the classroom Yao mentioned that we shouldn’t get ourselves in trouble. We all nodded like little school children and followed after him like little ducks.

The room was full of people. Yao and Ivan casually sat down between the other students, as did Francis. But we just stood there as awkward newbies. All eyes were on us and I tried to keep my composure. I recognized a few people.

Most students (you could call them SAS, as in Super Ability Student(s) but that name sounds a bit… sassy?) were talking amongst themselves and didn’t mind us staring. I recognized Arthur’s Magic Club friends Vladimir and Lukas. Arthur waved a bit timidly at them. Elizabeta was sitting next to Ivan’s older sister Irina. When Matthew saw her he looked quite surprised. Natalya was sitting in the far corner.

She looked she was used to sitting alone and the person next to her (Yao’s cousin Leon) looked like he wanted to stay away from her as much as possible. I hardly noticed the teacher behind the desk. When she saw us I recognized her as Miss Athena who gave Greek and philosophy. She spoke with Arthur shortly before turning to the class. ‘We have new students. Arthur Kirkland, supernatural. Alfred and Matthew Jones, biotic. Please take care of them.’ Most students gave us a quick glance over. But those who knew us smiled.

She instructed Matthew to sit behind Francis in the left row. She instructed Arthur to take the seat next to Vladimir at the right row. Miss Athena pointed at middle row at an empty seat next to an Indian boy named Nanush. He gave me a long neutral stare which came of as a bit disturbing since he has really dark eyes. The moment I sat next to him I felt odd. I didn’t dare to ask if it had to do with his superpower.

Miss Athena who was _definitely_ high started her class by rambling and making vague hand gestures. Apparently as SAP teacher she gives the class psychic ability studies. (Psychic abilities are superpowers that you use with your head.) I tried to make notes. It was of course very interesting, but somehow concentrating was difficult. My mind kept drifting towards Matthew’s face a few rows on the left. I couldn’t stop myself from asking why I’d done it.

I tried to stay calm, but it was hard. Slowly I turned my head towards Arthur. When our eyes met he quickly looked away. Maybe I could talk to Arthur? He’d always been someone who understood, someone who listened. I stared feeling doubt. _We are friends_. My face squinted at the thought. _I’m not his only friend. And I’m definitely not his best friend._

He would probably tell me to find someone else to talk to. As I stared at the chalkboard I couldn’t help but to feel bothered by the facts. Arthur has always told me he doesn’t need friends, he’s fine without. _He doesn’t need me. I’m replaceable._  I started making notes, hoping it would make the thoughts disappear. Frustration made me clench my fist. _Thinking about Arthur should not be important right now_. Yet my eyes moved towards him again, _magnetic_.

He didn’t notice me. He was focusing on the information presented to him by the teacher. He’s left handed, a pen in his hand, waiting to be used, but the empty paper in front of him stayed empty. He kept his eyes fixated on the chalkboard, his eyebrows moved together, obviously something irritated him.

I wondered what.

_Focus…_

I quickly shook my head and pretend to pay attention again. Yes I should focus on important matters. Like the fact that I had to make up to Matthew and Ivan. (If Ivan didn’t kill me first that is.) Or the fact that I still had to talk to Antonio one of these days to see if he would slip up any important information regarding the plane crash.

**_Arthur would be able to talk to him._ **

_Focus._

And then there was the cloaked mystery girl. Was it even a girl? I tried to remember if I’d seen her face. Blurry memories invaded my mind. Useless.

**_Do I mean anything to Arthur? Does he even consider me his friend?_ **

_Focus!_

The idea of just being the so-many’d friend left a bitter taste in my mouth. But that wasn’t important. Who cared anyways? Arthur and I had a great friendship. Why even think about these things? Normal friends wouldn’t do that I bet you.

**_I don’t want to be Arthur’s friend._ **

_FOCUS!_

My hand slammed on the table, and everyone was suddenly looking at me. Suddenly I felt embarrassed. I looked around, most people looked startled, curious, a few concerned. Matthew gave me a questioning look. And Miss Athena pulled back her curly frizzy brown hair. Something she does when she tries to act serious.

‘Everything okay Alfred?’ Her soft dreamy voice didn’t sound angry, but her eyes showed a quick glimmer of irritation. I gave the table a look. A nice dent was made into it. The nice wood showed cracks and was obviously ruined. I ruined it.

‘Any reason for your outburst?’ Miss Athena might be easy-going, but she also has to keep us in check. She would probably ask me to leave and head towards Mister Beilschmidts office. Not something I could afford right now. Definitely not when I could feel Yao’s eyes burn in my back. Warning me to keep a low profile. I gave the chalkboard a good look. A question was written on it. Slowly I explained that I got a bit too excited because I had figured out the answer. She could live with that reasoning, for now.

Everything became quiet and peaceful once again. But I wasn’t feeling alright. Trying not to be noticed I slowly allowed my shaking hands to clutch my head. _What is happening to me?_ I was surprised to feel someone tap my shoulder. Reluctantly I looked up.

Nanush had opened his hand in a motion that looked as if I had to give him something. I raised my shoulders, to show him in silence that I didn’t know what he wanted. He pointed at my hand, and at his again. His serious expression not faltering as he continued making notes with his right hand, and kept his left hand open. Waiting for something.

This time I gave him a confused expression. Did he need a pen? Did he want to know what time it was? Or maybe he wanted to borrow some money? Very slowly, as if afraid to startle me, he took my hand. Only the tips of my fingers touched his hand, but the effect of what followed was incredible.

My heart rate lowered, suddenly my head was a clear place once again. All my muscled stopped tensing up and a smile formed on my face. He caused this. I had no idea _how_ , but somehow he had made everything inside of me calm down. He was like a peacekeeper.

In my head the word Peacekeeper got stored away. Maybe someday when he needed a superhero identity I could bring the name up again? It sounded like a plan. I gave him a quick nod, as way to thank him. He didn’t show any reaction he didn’t even blink. He simply let go and continued writing, like nothing ever happened.

A sudden knock interrupted everything once again. Miss Athena quickly faced the door, just as curious as us as to whom would walk in. A girl silently opened the door. Michelle Mancham, looked like she’d been running. Her hair which was usually in two ponytails was loose and messy. Her uniform was a bit wrinkled and her face apologetic.

‘I’m sorry I’m late, I fell asleep. Can I come in?’ Miss Athena nodded and Michelle quickly walked into the classroom, she quickly scanned for an open seat and found one besides Matthew. My brother wore the same expression as me. Disbelief, surprise, shock but he also looked like he was realizing something.

Like suddenly everything made sense. He opened his mouth to say something but Francis interrupted him by purposely starting to cough. I shouldn’t be that surprised that Michelle was a SAP student. Yet I was. She had never showed any signs of possessing superpowers and yet here she was. I wanted to know how long she’d know about all this, I wanted to know what she could do. I wanted to know, but I didn’t ask.

Because Miss Athena was talking again. And Michelle and Matthew were both staring at everything except each other, but I saw that Matthew was in distress, the entirety of his arms were missing, clothes and all. The students who noticed seemed shortly interested. But then quickly looked away again, realizing that they might be acting rude.

After we all received homework class got dismissed. Before I could even pick up my bag Francis was there. His look was quite the serious one. ‘Alfred what are you thinking?’ He didn’t sound angry, his thick French accent only put the emphasis on confusion.

‘Thinking? Uhm, not much really.’ Francis looked at Nanush. ‘Did he do something to you?’ Francis dark blue eyes had something calculating. As if he wanted to ask a question, but he wasn’t sure if I would take it well. ‘Yeah I was freaking out a bit and that dude helped me out. I feel super relaxed right now, it’s great.’

Francis slowed moved forward a bit more, as if afraid others would hear it: ‘I can’t read your mind Alfred, why’s that?’ I gave him a puzzled look. ‘You can’t?’ My panicking about Arthur suddenly seemed like a far off dream. But secretly I was glad that Francis hadn’t picked that up. ‘No my friend. Tell me are you okay?’ I nodded. ‘I feel fine.’

_LIAR LIAR LIAR LIAR LIAR LIAR LIAR LIAR LIAR LIAR LIAR LIAR LIAR LIAR LIAR LIAR._

Before Francis had gotten his powers he’d always been someone who understood others. He knows when people are lying. And although it was fairly obvious that I was lying through my teeth, he didn’t object my statement. Instead he told me to keep some distant from Matthew. I wanted to reach out to Matthew during next class but he insisted that my brother needed some space. ‘He’s going through a lot right now.’

Next class was self-defence. No more Yao or Mister Vadas tough. Now we joined the other students under supervision of Constante Martel. She usually gives music. But don’t let yourself be fooled. Miss Martel is like a warrior. Always telling people that they aren’t trying their best, always trying to push people over their limits. But most of all, she has this scary enthusiasm for her job.

Not her music job. No, her _military_ job. You see, she claims that she has served her country (France to be exact), and although she should be retiring she doesn’t seem to be interested in quitting at all. When we introduced ourselves in her class she seemed extremely excited by the prospect of having students with enhanced strength. But even someone like Miss Martel has to play according to the rules.

‘You are of course not here to learn to advance your powers further than necessary. Learn to control them, learn to dispose of them, and learn to make them disappear. Only use them when your life is in danger.’ She had a smoker’s voice, low and threatening.

Her wrinkling face showed kindness and assurance. But her words and actions spoke otherwise. We all nodded to show that we had listened and then she ordered us the dress properly. Anyway time skip! Everyone was dressed and all students gathered as she explained what we were going to do today. We would start with a warming-up. Basically she wanted us to play dodgeball. I was definitely not disappointed. You know me long enough now to know that I love a good match! The entire game went fine.

(Okay I might have accidently hurt some people with the amount of the strength that I possess. But that was accidental! A lot of people called me an asshole that day…) But suddenly something strange happened. One moment I was holding the ball, the next moment it was gone. When I blinked I was suddenly sitting at the side lines together with the others on my team. ‘Ha Lukas we won!’

I blinked. I recognized that voice. Everyone grew quiet and turned to look who was speaking. A boy with short wild blond hair, drooping blue eyes and an enormous grin was standing on the other side of the field next to Lukas. He waved with his arms, made a wild impression. Magnus Densen? He became quiet when he saw Lukas’ angry face. A few people gasped. A few girls started laughing and fell over. He looked around, slightly confused.

He turned to look at Miss Martel. ‘Not good?’ He asked her, sounding disappointed at the lack of response. His accent was thick, Danish and had a cheerful tone to it that sounded amused. ‘What are you doing here?’ Miss Martel asked, not very amused by the situation. He started talking, he talked extremely fast. Nobody could follow him.

‘Okay liked to keep the story SUPER short: don’t ask why but I was trying to charge my phone when that plane thing crashed but yeah got pretty hurt got a big shock and got into a coma that wasn’t very cool but anyways I’m back Magnus Densen is the name for who doesn’t know me yet hi everyone nice to meet all of you I’m really glad to be back heard about this SAP thing here from my buddy Lukas and I thought WOW this is exactly the place where I can get some help because maybe you’ve already noticed but I got some speed problems I woke up and suddenly everyone was slow and I was fast and I haven’t slept in a few days and I’m hungry but this seems cool and I saw you were playing dodgeball so I made sure Lukas’ team would win because we’re best friends although he would never admit it and wow I need air.’

He took a deep breath.

‘Anyways good to be back!’

He’d finally woken up from his coma. Lukas seemed unimpressed by the situation. ‘I didn’t tell everyone the good news yet.’ He slowly stated, his face emotionless like usual. Magnus seemed surprised. ‘Why not?!’

Lukas scratched his head. ‘Dunno, I guess it slipped my mind.’ Magnus suddenly started moving. He left a strong wind everywhere he moved to. ‘So cool to see all you guys here never expected you to be a SAP student.’ He moved from student to student with such a speed that he was simply a blur. ‘Or you and you and you and you or you oh hey Alfred long time no see and wow Yao are you kidding me man it’s Christmas!’

How to describe Magnus? Well he’s a happy dude, has lots of humour and he’s stubborn and childish. Once we did a project together. He was very controlling, bossy, and demanding. Girls (and Francis) fawn over the fact that he’s quite muscular for a 16 year old. Personally I like him. He’s a cool dude. And I was glad he was officially back.

Magnus was standing next to Lukas again. ‘But yeah Miss Martel Miss Kirkland sent me here?’ Miss Martel seemed surprised by how fast the Danish boy was. ‘Oh. Okay.’ She grabbed the student lists he quickly wrote something down. ‘Magnus Densen…?’ She left the end of her sentence open.

‘Oh they told me to say biotic doesn’t really ring a bell with me.’ He nodded at the door. ‘Mister Beilschmidt said he’d inform you and I guess he should arrive any moment by now but hey what do I know right?’ Seconds after the words left him the door opened to reveal the immortal deputy-headmaster.

His eyes scanned the room, _I’d forgotten that he is intimidating as fuck_. ‘I have two things to say: First and foremost I’m here to inform all of you about our new SAP student Magnus Densen.’ He took a deep breath. ‘Secondly when that’s done, I would like to take with me the next following students…’ He took out a little note.

‘Ivan Braginsky.’ Ivan simply smiled.  
‘Francis Bonnefoy.’ Francis didn’t look surprised.  
‘Alfred F. Jones.’ _Are you kidding me?_  
‘Matthew W. Jones.’ He pulled up a nope face too.  
‘Arthur Kirkland.’ He seemed curious.  
‘And Yao Wang.’ Yao looked at me accusingly before face palming.

Sure things were looking a bit bleak. But I mean… October could still be a cool month right?

_Right?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Magnus Densen = Denmark  
> 2\. Miss Martel = Ancient Gaul  
> 3\. Miss Athena = Ancient Greece  
> 4\. USUK = pain and love
> 
> So I hope you enjoyed and until next time!
> 
> \- Suus_Arido


	17. Chapter 16 - Arthur: And then there were two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Christmas everyone! (We celebrate today since I'm part of German.) I hope all of you have a wonderful evening. Warning, very crappy writing and chapter. For more information as to why look down below! Have a lovely night/day. :D

_Before you speak, think._ ~ Victoria Kirkland

It never really occurred to me before. But as we walked through the hallway I noticed that there were a lot of ugly paintings hanging around. I know you might just think that I should just ignore the paintings. But something was odd about them. Like the eyes of the humans and animals followed us as we walked past them. Usually these are details that I keep to myself. It probably has to do with magic. And you as listener will not want to hear every single detail. Like my toilet activities, or what I had for breakfast. You are probably not interested in what I’m currently wearing. (The regular uniform since it’s the easy choice).

So I know I shouldn’t mention the paintings. Unless it has a significance to the plot of course. But since I’m also a human being, I do sometimes slip in bits of information that you might consider to be quite personal. So yes. The paintings were creepy, and they are a part of why I hate to keep watch during the night.

You want to know another weird fact? Well, I used to like Harry Potter when I was little. _Like a lot._ I know. This information might come as surprising or even confusing. (Since I’ve told you in earlier recordings what I think about homosexuality.) But my thought process went a bit like this when I grew up: _Everyone likes Harry Potter. Nothing to worry about._ A flawed thinking process, but it worked for me. It kept me sane.

As we quickly and silently followed Mister Beilschmidt my mind was racing past every stupid, traumatic or indecent choice I’d ever made in my entire life. From almost drowning in a pool, to undressing in the middle of the street. My mind was really bloody fucking with me.

‘Hello, earth to Arthur do you copy?’ I looked up, a bit confused. Alfred was looking at me, he was standing close, his face open and curious like usual. ‘Are you okay? You were totally spacing out again.’ Alfred lips tugged up in a smile. At that smile my irrational brain started cheering like some sort of stupid teenage girl. _Is James right? This thing Alfred and I have?_ I mentally slapped myself. _No it isn’t. Stop thinking about it._

That didn’t stop my brain from malfunctioning tough. I stuttered as I told him I was doing fine. _I am not bloody you-know-what. Neither is Alfred. We are not like that. Start thinking of something more interesting. Like books for example._ You should understand my fear. It would ruin everything. Mother would hate me, my brothers would hate me. These were dangerous thoughts.

I took a step away from him. I was just tired. I was just a bit confused. Nothing to worry about, it would disappear eventually. _I really am having a run-down._ Alfred’s smile didn’t waver, although his blue eyes had something odd.

Was I imagining it? Was he blushing? No, that was just wishful thinking. I had to get my head back in the game. _Think about homework, anything really._ Suddenly Francis was walking in the same pace as I. He was flashy dressed like usual. (When I was his roommate he complained on a daily basis about the uniform). He hooked our arms together with a knowing grin. ‘Francis what are you doing?’ He wiped some dust from my shoulder as he spoke. ‘Just messing with you. I’m bored. And beauty cannot exist in boredom.’ I knew beauty was a reference to himself. Asshole.

‘Well don’t worry frog. Being bored happens to the best of us. But maybe you can be bored somewhere else?’ I tried not to pull an irritated face, I kept my face as straight and emotionless as possible. But slowly I felt my mouth corners dig down dangerously low. Why he could never act as a normal human being went beyond me. But I was glad that he let go. But as he did he whispered: ‘You forgot I can read minds.’

The statement didn’t do much to me at first. Francis quickened his pace, and nobody ever noticed our quick little spat. (Maybe because after many years they’ve gotten used to it.) He turned around slightly and smirked, and knowing look on his face. I bet the only thought in my brain he could catch was a big question mark.

As he walked past Alfred he patted the guy on the back before turning to me and wriggling his eyebrows. Horror struck me in seconds. _He knows. Oh dear Lord he knows._ I wasn’t cautious enough. I’d forgotten that no thoughts were save around him. I’d been staring at the ground as I walked, trying not to panic. But I just needed to calm down. _Because even this the stupid git can hear. Are you amused Francis?_ He didn’t reply of course.

I should have been more careful. _Francis._ I decided to choose my words carefully. _I know that you do not hear things on purpose. But know this. These thoughts about Alfred? They are not your concern and they are mediocre at best. I know you are drawing conclusions right now, but your conclusions are wrong. This is my personal issue, not yours. If you even think about ruining things for me, if you even try to do anything that might hint at you trying to play matchmaker then I can assure you I will find a spell that will turn you into a real frog. And then I’ll throw you out of the nearest window. If you understand please put your hair in one of those awful way too feminine ponytails of yours._

Slowly Francis put his hair the way I’d asked. ‘Arthur darling, my hair is fabulous and you know it.’ He turned around to smile at me graciously but it only made my stomach turn with a nasty effect. The others hardly listened and didn’t even pay attention. Francis giggled and said in the awkward silence: ‘Arthur Yao just called our little conversation a domestic spat. Cute right?’ Yao grumbled at the idea of having Francis in his mind.

Any longer and I would’ve had tried to strangle him. But we’d arrived at our destination. When we arrived in the headmaster’s office I felt ready to hide in the corner and curl up. Mister Vargas was there, giving us an open happy smile. But mum was there too. Her look was piercing like always, her smile of the friendly type.

But I felt nauseous. _When did she start giving me that feeling?_ Another person was also present. I sensed his presence before I saw him. It was the mysterious stranger who had been following me the last couple of weeks. He’d been watching me, following me. I never approached him and he never approached me. Usually he just sat somewhere in the distant, watching me. Now he stood in the corner of the room.

He almost looked like a mysterious painting. He stood completely still, if quiet could be a person he would be it. He wore a khaki uniform and his taste in fashion revolved around golden accessories and on his head he wore a white Keffiyeh. (I actually had to look this up. It’s a head scarf.) His eyes gave big contrast to his dark skin.

I greeted him by nodding. He didn’t react, but his eyes kept trained on me. Something about him was weird. He gave off these weird vibes that were quite unsettling. _How to describe the vibes?_ Well… they felt like cold fingers gently touching my arms. My instinct told me to stay away from him as much as possible.

I wondered what we were doing here. As far as I was concerned we’d done nothing wrong. (Except for the thing with Alfred earlier that is.) But we’d covered our tracks right? A bitter taste formed in my mouth. Matthew’s friend Tessa had probably been talking. We couldn’t trust anyone nowadays. I barely trust anyone really.

I hardly trusted Alfred and Matthew about my abilities and yet I was in this situation now. An entire group of people knew about my abilities and were trying to get their gain from it. _So yes, the positivity is radiating from my body._ That aside Tessa Dijkstra seemed to be clueless about what happened earlier today, but I knew she wasn’t stupid. She was the smart type, the cold type. How Matthew could ever trust her went beyond my imagination.

‘Mister Vargas, here are the students you requested.’ Mister Beilschmidt looked a bit more tired than usual. He sounded like a he was very much done with this situation. The whole illusion thing must have been wearing him out. I couldn’t imagine what it would feel like to use my abilities 24/7. His hair was loose this time, put a part was braided. I didn’t know whether to compliment him or to ridicule him on the skill.

‘Dude you look like Rapunzel.’ Alfred already slipped up. _Too late._ I gave him a push against the shoulder to correct him. It didn’t matter that it was a rather adorable remark. ‘Uhm I mean, cool… hair… bro.’ He gave me a questioning look. Probably searching for a form of approval. I simply looked away. I couldn’t believe that I’d agree to Yao’s plan to keep track of Alfred the next upcoming days. If he was constantly going to act like this I was sure to become insane.

I couldn’t help but to smile at the thought. _I should get my head out of the gutter._ Mister Vargas seemed to find it all highly amusing. Mister Beilschmidt showed no reaction at all, like he didn’t care or simply didn’t see the humour in it. ‘Great to see your spirit hasn’t been broken Alfred, sadly you are not here to come up with cute nicknames for the staff. Go take a seat, make yourself at home, we have a lot to discuss.’ Mister Vargas said.

He pointed at some seats and a bit hesitant we sat down. ‘Nikolaus friend, Victoria and I will take it from here. Thanks for bringing them here.’ Mister Beilschmidt nodded. ‘Very well, goodnight.’ He left in a hurry, like he had better places to be at this hour. _I have better places to be too._ I tried to hold back a yawn. God I was feeling tired already. When the door closed behind Beilschmidt, Mister Vargas shifted his focus back to us.

‘So, I’d love to have a nice chat. But Victoria-uhm I mean Miss Kirkland here insists that I cut to the point immediately.’ His hand ran through his messy hair. ‘It’s about the current situation boys. The last couple of weeks you’ve all done your punishments accordingly. Usually we don’t have that many guards during the night shifts. And we noticed that the increase of security has led to fewer incidents the last couple of weeks. This is also thanks to the fact that you’ve caught George de Bakker, Jimmy Stones and Natalya Arlovskaya.’

He smiled. ‘For that we are very grateful. Jimmy and his friend George are both doing well if you were wondering. We’ve wiped the memories that would give them reasons to go rogue. Daniel, although you know him as Mister Vadas has not given them back their powers yet. Since they are still in rehab. We are keeping a close eye on them and I’m sure they will soon return to school. They will no longer form any potential threat.’ He said it all with such a happy look. But I couldn’t help but to wonder what they did to them in rehab that would neutralize them.

‘Did their parents agree to this? I mean you can’t just simply take memories.’ I tried to sound friendly, but I’m not one to censor my sentences just to avoid conflict. Francis was giving me a look as if he wanted to add things to make my opinion stronger, but he kept quiet. ‘Who are you to decide what they can remember and what not? How can you be sure that they won’t make the same mistakes again anyway? Jimmy Stones doesn’t seem like that stable of a person.’ I felt like I was talking to a smiling wall.

Mister Vargas gave me this weird vibe. Must’ve been because he was immortal. It wasn’t a natural thing, and somehow my body picked up on it. ‘Good questions Mister Kirkland, and also the right ones to ask. I like your son Victoria, he has some spirit in him.’ My mother seemed anything but displeased by my rude behaviour. It made me cower slightly.

‘Mister and Miss de Bakker are actually picking up George tomorrow. They’ve decided that the school isn’t a save environment for the boy. And although I disagree with them completely I cannot stop them. As for the memories we’ve wiped, we’ve mostly deleted memories that involve the identities or powers of other students. This we do to protect not only the other students, but also himself.’ His look was questioning.

‘Do you understand Mister Kirkland? I’ve been in this business for quite a few years. Ivan’s sister Natalya has also been taken care of properly. That turned out to be a giant misunderstanding. And although we can never be sure that Jimmy Stones will not act out like this again… we can arrange that he grows up in a save and peaceful environment.’

Mister Vargas’ eyes lit up. ‘Which reminds me, you all know about the incident not long ago. Alfred here spotted a mysterious girl. With the information that you’ve given us we tried to track her down. And we’ve found a track! I’ve already set some people on it who will try to find her. So the matter is officially not your concern anymore. However…’

He turned to look at Alfred. Alfred seemed unsettled by the looks everyone was giving him. I wanted to comfort him in some way but couldn’t move much less think of anything to say or do. ‘Alfred, if you happen to remember _anything_. Even the tiniest detail I would like for you to talk with Mister Beilschmidt alright? As he is leading the search. If this girl has malicious intends a lot of students might come in harm’s way.’ Mister Vargas words were friendly, his face insisting.

Alfred seemed nervous under the gazes. ‘I’ll try okay? For some reason when I try to remember my head gets all messed up.’ His smile faded into a scared expression. _So that happened during class? He got upset because he was trying so hard to remember?_ ‘Francis has already tried to read my mind too, but his superpower is not strong enough to reach memories.’ Francis scoffed. ‘Sir, with all due respect sometimes when I sleep I accidentally slip into people their memories. So my power _is_ strong enough, I just can’t control it.’ He turned to mother, ‘I need tutoring.’

Mister Vargas gave mum a look. They almost looked like they were discussing. ‘Very well then. Please go the Miss Kirkland’s office tomorrow. Then you can discuss the possibilities of having a tutor. Also please call me Romulus, if you call me sir I might start feeling ancient.’ The wink he gave implied it was a joke of some sorts but no-one laughed.

Mother seemed to take over now. ‘Anyway here is the deal: You’ve been acting well. And now we have a different task for you. You won’t have to guard the school every night and you won’t have to wash dishes anymore.’ Alfred was wearing the happiest look on earth, I however braced myself. Mum always wanted something in return.

‘However you are still under school punishment. So in return you’ll be getting new assignments.’ _New ones?_ My curiosity was peaked, but at the same time I was afraid of whatever might be in store for us. ‘A lot of students have started developing abilities. And so far we’ve been quite able to help them. However…’ Her feet were tapping the ground, she was irritated, nervous. ‘Some have managed to keep hidden pretty well. And although we understand their fear, the chance of them losing control is something we _cannot_ afford right now. Your main mission is to find new SAP students. Help them, bring them to us. They can be a danger to themselves and others.’

Mister Vargas was balancing a pencil on his upper lip. When he spoke the pencil fell on the ground. ‘Just keep the school grounds and students save. Make sure SAP stays secret. Mister Beilschmidt is already under a lot of pressure, his powers have a limit, and he can’t hide _everything_. By the way we also have a special request for you…’

Francis interrupted him by raising his hand. ‘After Christmas our punishment is done. Correct?’ Mister Vargas nodded. ‘Well of course, as we’ve said before. If you act responsible, and act correctly your punishment will end at Christmas. Anyways, we have another special assignment for you guys that request your immediate attention.’

He beckoned the mysterious boy in the corner to show his presence. ‘This is Gupta Muhammad Hassan. He’s a warlock and an expert on dark arts and Outsiders.’ Alfred’s face turned white at the mention of ghosts. ‘He’s been keeping an eye out for any movement in the world beyond our field of vision. Gupta, would you like to tell us what you’ve noticed?’ The warlock named Gupta seemed hesitant.

Something about the boy was chilly and most people in the room seemed unaware or at least clueless about the dark shadow the warlock was casting. ‘Sorry for bad English. I am from Egypt.’ The boy had a very serious voice, he sounded like a grown up despite his boyish features. ‘More Outsiders around recently. Although dark nights lay ahead, this situation is quite strange.’ His English wasn’t half as bad, all things considered. ‘Many families have been sensing Outsiders. Chapman’s not around anymore to-’ My mother rudely cut him off. ‘That part isn’t important. You can skip it.’

Of course my mother wouldn’t want me to hear the important stuff that probably involved my father’s family. She could be quite predictable. I tried to contain my anger by pressing my lips together tightly. Anyways Gupta Muhammed did not seem like the type that liked to be interrupted. And for a second the air felt electric. There was a lot of negative energy going around. It made my body tense up. The Egyptian boy although looking innocent had to be a great wizard. Because his eyes had something ancient, was he immortal like Vargas and Beilschmidt?

‘Okay. Outsiders more… brutal than usual. Students may get hurt. I’ve found a spell which looks for source darkness. It comes from someone at school. Someone’s summoning. Can’t find the source tough. Motivation of this outcast not clear, find this person.’ He took a step back, he seemed rather uncaring whether or not the messages had actually been received correctly. Yao was the one to speak up. ‘So ghosts are terrorizing the school?’

Mum slightly chuckled. Something she’d also done when I’d shown her the coin the tooth fairy had left behind. ‘Not exactly terrorizing. But they are trying to find suitable host bodies. Only wizards are fitting for their abilities. So any other students who get possessed may start acting very dangerously. If we can find this outcast-person who’s causing the problem we can solve the Outsider problem.’

Ivan was fiddling his gloves.‘But we can’t even see them. How are we supposed to solve this mission without your assistance?’ Mister Vargas smiled. ‘Who says you won’t be getting any help? For this mission Arthur Kirkland will be leading the team. And Gupta will be guiding you.’ Yao and Ivan seemed surprised. Francis slowly raised his hand. ‘Sir-I mean Romulus sir, I may be new to all this. But isn’t it wiser to make Yao in charge? He has a wizard heritage and he is far more experienced in the field…’

Gupta shook his head. ‘No. Absolutely Kirkland. He sees what you cannot.’ With those words his brown eyes focused on me. And for a second I felt trapped. Something was awfully wrong about this kid. At this point I was hardly aware of the fact that a huge responsibility was put on me.

Mister Vargas took out a paper. ‘I’ll have to write it all down. My old mind sometimes can’t keep track of things otherwise. Team #1939 under command of Arthur Kirkland…’ He scratched it out. ‘No we’ll be in need of code names. I heard from Alfred that you all go by country names?’ A groan left most of the room. Alfred’s eyes lit up with excitement.

Alfred stood up and made his way towards the desk. ‘Well wait! Let me come up with some good names.’ Matthew gave me a concerned look. I’d almost forgotten he was here too. Alfred seemed deep in thought. Suddenly he started cheering. ‘Okay I got it. The names will be temporarily until I’ve come up with better ones. He started writing down names. Romulus tried to keep back a smile from forming on his face. Once the paper was completely filled in he read it out loud.

Oh god, I dread this next part.

‘Team #1939, also known as **The Allies**.                                                              

 **Mission:** Find source of Outsiders and put stop to it.  
**Person of interest:** Pariah (presumably source of Outsiders)  
**Team leader:** The Green Gandalf  
**Team members:** The Chinese Jackie Chan Dragon, General (Princess Snowflake) Winter, Mister Right and The Hero’

Several annoyed voices came together. Yao stated that his name wasn’t the _Chinese_ Jackie Chan Dragon but just Dragon. Ivan huffed at the Snowflake part of his name. Matthew complained that Alfred had forgotten about him altogether, and I could only face palm. ‘Hero? Green Gandalf? I imagine you’d be uncreative. But even the writer of computer manuals could probably be _more_ creative.’

Alfred started looked fake-hurt. ‘I’m doing my best dudes. Trust me, once I’ve gotten some really kickass names for us I’ll make sure Mister Vargas changes them.’ I repeated the words again and again in my head. ‘Allies? Are you kidding me? You are actually going to make a joke about the Second World War?’ When he saw my perplexed expression he raised his arms as if the surrender. ‘I’m working on it okay!’

My mother started to cough to grasp our attention. ‘Your school schedules will be made more flexible in order for you to work on this case. Before you go there is one more thing that I would like to say.’ She turned her gaze towards me. The similarities between us were painful to see. ‘Gupta Hassan will be your magic teacher from now one Arthur. As I’m too busy to teach you all the technicalities. Treat him with respect and listen carefully to him. He knows what he’s doing.’

Gupta Hassan smiled at me. It was a thin smile, his lips looked like he bit on them a lot. His eyes really did have something creepy to them, they looked empty. Like he wasn’t really in there but jut pretending to. ‘I assure Achmed and I be getting along well.’ Gupta said proudly. I hit Alfred on the head when he tried to chuckle.

After a convenient time skip in which we all made our ways back to the boy dorms I came to a realization. I remembered my promise to Yao. ‘You okay Artie?’ I felt someone poke my forehead. Alfred was staring at me. ‘Yeah, it’s just that I’m going to be sleeping in your room tonight. I have to keep an eye on you. Will Toris mind?’ Alfred readjusted his glasses. He suddenly seemed keen. ‘Oh he won’t. Toris is a deep sleeper.’ Suddenly a small little smile formed on Alfred’s lips and he started to walk a bit faster.

I was worried about him. We’d all been through a lot of shit lately. And Alfred’s mood swings concerned me. He was constantly pretending to be happy, but clearly something was bothering him. He’d just had a fall out with Matthew, his contact with Ivan had once again turned sour and I was clearly pushing him away. _I have to reach out to him don’t I?_ ‘Well I’ll get my stuff then. I’ll be right back okay?’ I tried to smile but failed.

Alfred needed someone right now. He needed a friend. And I couldn’t let my personal issues get in the way right now. I had to keep up a good front for him. He was clearly still upset. As I walked towards my room I noticed how busy the hallway still was. Tino and Berwald were hanging up posters. Tino smiled when he saw me, I pretended not to see him. I was in no mood to talk about my deepest fears and traumas.

Kiku was hanging with Ludwig and Feliciano. Once he saw me he quickly stood up. It was odd to see him here. I’d felt alienated from the normal world. Kiku had always been the person with whom I could share secrets. Yet that was taken from me now. Kiku couldn’t know about all this. Yet Kiku was still here, he was still smiling at me. He was still considering me his friend.

‘Arthur there you are.’ I straightened my back. ‘Kiku good to see you. What are you doing up so late?’ Behind him Feliciano and Ludwig watched with curiosity. Feliciano was such a bright and happy fellow. I wondered if he ever acted outside his comfort zone. Ludwig gave me such a scary look that I wondered if I’d done something wrong.

‘Arthur are you ok?’ Apparently Kiku had been talking to me, but I’d obviously spaced out. ‘Sorry what?’ I turned to look at him. I noticed something odd about my Japanese friend in that moment. He was acting… distant. His eyes had something detached and his words were slow, and carefully chosen. ‘Arthur, we cannot be friends any longer.’

A long silence followed. I took a me a bit to understand his words. I felt my expression falter into confusion. ‘What?’ I let out a half-hearted chuckle, convinced he was joking. But Kiku kept his mouth shut, his hair had gotten longer, he needed a haircut. Everything about him was the same as before. Yet something cold had settled over him. Like he… was disgusted by my presence.

‘I don’t understand.’ I tried to keep my composure but failed spectacularly. ‘I’m sorry. I shall repeat myself. Arthur-san, I don’t feel any need to keep up my ties with you any longer. Thus I’ve concluded that I don’t want to talk with you any longer. If the need arises I shall make small talk with you in the hallway or work with you on projects. But that’s all. Have a nice evening.’

He gave a quick courtesy bow and walked away. I grabbed his arm and turned him around. Convinced to find humour plastered on his face. I would laugh in relieve and say: _Good one you pranked me!_ None of that happened. Kiku isn’t exactly a joker. He pulled his arm free from my grip, turned to look at me and said: ‘Please respect my choice.’

Understand that Kiku isn’t the type to explain a lot. Neither is he predictable. But what he’d just said… that hit me. I don’t know how but one moment I was in that hallway, staring at his back. The next moment I was lying in a sleeping bag on the ground. Toris was snoring loudly, I lay wide awake and with every second that was passing I felt my eyes burn more and more. Alfred had been taking a shower, but the running water had been gone for quite a while. I heard some doors open and soon enough Alfred walked.

He wore old baggy pants and a batman shirt. ‘Arthur you sleeping already?’ Slowly I let my hand drag over my face. ‘No.’ Alfred let out a vague coherent sound to tell me he’d listened. I didn’t have the courage to tell him what happened with Kiku. He was in what seemed to be a sensitive state already. One more time he tried to dry his hair properly, causing it to become an enormous mess.

‘Let me help you with that.’ I whispered, probably so Toris wouldn’t be disturbed. I sat beside Alfred on his bed, took the towel from his hand and tried to make his hair look at least a bit decent. ‘I think you’re only making it worse.’ I felt numb in that moment. Somehow it was incredibly important that his hair would listen for once. I kept going at it. Convinced that I could just _fix it_.

My hands started shaking more and more. He had a stupid hair strand that just kept going up no matter what I tried. Alfred said something. But I didn’t hear him. I could only feel my heartbeat. Aching more and more as I saw Kiku’s look of disgust again. ‘Arthur!’ Alfred suddenly stopped my hands from moving. ‘What’s wrong?’

I didn’t look at him. I could hardly look at him anyways. It was dark. That aside, this was my problem to deal with. I’d obviously done something wrong. I’d tried to text Kiku several times but he must’ve blocked me. _I am a terrible friend. I don’t really blame Kiku. I wasn’t there for him. I was too busy with myself._

Suddenly two hands were on my face and forcing me to look up. Alfred’s face had softened a lot in the dark. ‘What’s wrong Arthur? One moment you were doing just fine. Please tell me. Are you angry at me? Did I do something wrong?’ I took a deep breath. I tried to find the words to explain to him that he should leave me be. I tried to look strong, _to feel strong_. Right in that moment things would be decided.

But as I looked at his face in the dark, the kindness of his face, I couldn’t lie. ‘I ruined everything.’ I could hardly speak. Alfred shook his head. ‘You didn’t ruin anything. Is it my fault? Someone else’s? What’s going on?’ Slowly he pulled his hands away. It felt like a cold rejection. _Even Alfred wants to remove you from his life._ I tried to find the words that would best explain how I felt without looking like a sissy. ‘I saw Kiku in the hallway. And we talked. And…’

My throat suddenly felt too tight, my vision became blurred. ‘I know it’s stupid but I think I did something wrong and he just-’ I couldn’t hold back the tears any longer. I had never cried in front of Alfred before. I was quite content with keeping it that way.

‘-He doesn’t want to be my friend anymore. And I have no clue how to fix this.’ I quickly dried the few tears that had managed to escape. Alfred noticed and suddenly his distant behaviour disappeared and he hugged me tightly. ‘Hey there, easy. It’s okay to cry. So you and Kiku had a fight?’ I shook my head as I gripped unto him tightly. ‘I don’t know what I did wrong. But he hates me.’ I felt Alfred shake his head.

His voice was a soft murmuring. ‘Kiku doesn’t hate anyone. I bet it was just a small spat. Soon things will be alright again. Go talk to him tomorrow okay?’ I tried to collect myself again and succeeded. Slowly he pulled me back. Furiously I tried to dry a few more tears. I felt embarrassed. ‘Crying is not a bad thing Arthur. You know that right?’

I wanted to tell him that he was right. That it was a completely natural and normal thing to do. But my brain was telling him that he was wrong. _I need to be strong enough. Strong enough to make sure I won’t get hurt._ ‘Kiku is a great guy Arthur. Whatever is going on things will turn out find in the end.’ We sat there a bit longer before I couldn’t hold back a yawn. ‘You’re tired Artie. We should both get some sleep.’

Alfred’s face was odd. The look he gave me was so… vulnerable. It’s very difficult to describe. But like for once he didn’t look confident. Like he knew he didn’t have to pretend around me. I nodded. Slowly I slid of the bed to get in my sleeping bag but Alfred held me back. ‘I heard there might be a thunderstorm tonight. Could you… stay?’ After my short emotional fit I felt like maybe I wasn’t the only one seeking comfort. ‘Sure.’

That night Alfred fell asleep without saying another word. He just held on to me tightly. His face was peaceful, his hair still a stupid mess. I wondered what I was doing wrong. Everything used to always go according to my plan. But now things just seemed to be beyond my control. _Have I been too busy with everyone’s expectations?_

I went over the situation again and again. Trying to find were things went wrong. And suddenly I knew exactly what was wrong with me. _These cursed abilities._ Hate flared up in me. Why did this happen? Wasn’t there anything that would go as planned? I hate the power to heal bones, to create shields and manipulate nature, yet I couldn’t even control my own decisions anymore.

Alfred didn’t notice the duvet shortly catching fire by a green spark that left my hand. Neither Alfred nor Toris noticed when the window slightly cracked. They were sleeping peacefully. I looked at Alfred and surprisingly enough I found back my cool. I felt safe and warm. _Stupid Alfred and his stupid face_. I curled up and closed my eyes. Maybe things would turn out better tomorrow. I slowly pushed myself out of Alfred’s arms to give myself some more space.

 _Alfred and I both know that there won’t be any thunderstorm the next couple of weeks._ But I’ve always liked playing pretend. So that night, a little lie I wouldn’t mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. So yes, Gupta Hassan = Egypt.  
> 2\. One of the reasons why I didn't update was because life is hectic.  
> 3\. Another reason is because I'm a trash can who can't keep up promises.  
> 4\. So please try to forgive me for a crappy chapter. Chapter 17 is sort of going.  
> 5\. My friends convinced me to update... so that's why this is here. xD  
> 6\. One of the reasons as to why I found the chapter difficult, is because Arthur is basically me and my struggles. And I can't write him when I'm in the Arthur-mood.  
> 7\. SO ONE MORE THING. ARTHUR HAS A NEW VOICE ACTOR. IN SEASON 6 DUB.  
> 8\. And HONESTLY? It sounds crappy.  
> 9\. Netherlands sounds fabulous tough.  
> 10\. So all of you have a wonderful, beautiful, happy, merry Christmas!


	18. Chapter 17 - Matthew: Birds of a feather flock together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MUHAHAHA. Greetings humans! Everyone a happy, wonderful 2017. So I have returned with the January update. And like: guys, I love writing, and this story. But life is getting in the way EVERY DAMM TIME. But here's the chapter anyways. Matthew is a boss. I love the guy.

_You used to treat me like a king, Now I don’t stand a chance._ ~ The Invisible Half, Part VI

Not even an hour ago it had been raining. Not the stormy type of rain, but the soft, almost not noticeable type of rain. Tessa had insisted on going outside for some fresh air. I’d agree, and soon we found ourselves at the lake. Tessa sat down on the wet grass. ‘You sure you don’t want to sit down?’ She seemed rather content staring at the grim sky. ‘No I’m fine, I prefer a dry butt.’ I stood awkwardly besides her.

I got lost in thought as I stared at the scenery. Tessa and I sometimes would just sit somewhere. And neither of us would break the silence. _Because silence doesn’t have to be a bad thing._ The air felt cold, and I couldn’t help but to note that more and more trees were starting to lose leafs. Tessa took out her lighter. After a few tries a fire got formed and shamelessly she lit a cigarette. ‘I thought you quit?’

‘I did.’ Her voice sounded flat, like she was reading from a script. ‘Maybe I’m in need of better glasses then. Because that looks like smoking to me.’ She gave me an annoyed side-glance. ‘I’m not smoking. I’m _coping_.’ As on cue I remembered the scars. The scars she would only vaguely talk about when asked.

‘Well maybe you should find a new coping mechanism then. Like drinking coffee. Since you can’t stay awake during classes. Besides those things are going to kill you.’ Slowly she looked up. Her hair was loose today and covered a part of her face. The look she gave me was an empty one. Like she wanted to say something along the lines of: _Look at me Matthew. I’m already dead._

Finally she laughed, it wasn’t genuine tough. ‘You notice huh?’ I quickly grabbed the cigarette from her loosened grip and threw it away. She grumbled annoyed. ‘Asshole.’ I ignored her sweet comment. ‘You can thank me later.’ She lay down on her back, I had to make sure she wouldn’t fall asleep. She did so a bit too often in class nowadays.

‘So, how did your conversation with Miss Greenwood go?’ She took out her pack of cigarettes. Probably intend of getting a new one. ‘Well you were right.’ I snatched the box from her hands and threw it in the nearest bin. When I returned she gave me a frustrating look. ‘What was I right about? Everything in the history of ever?’

This time she took out a water bottle. It was a new one I noted. Since she always removed the label from her bottles and she had a bit of a struggle opening it. ‘I wouldn’t say that. But you were definitely right about Miss Greenwood. She’s a nutter.’ This time a legit chuckle left the both of us. ‘I told you so. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. How did it go then? I assume you had an excellent talk?’

When Tessa first told me about Miss Greenwood, I thought she was making things up. I couldn’t believe that there was somebody out there who called student by their "spirit names". When she described Miss Greenwood as the type to let students meditate I thought she was just messing with me. That was until I walked into her office…

The sign on the board read:

**SCHOOL COUNSELLOR** _Miss E. Greenwood_

I’d never talked with the school counsellor before. Probably because up until this point it had never been necessary. Miss Greenwood’s office was just as boring as all the others, yet it reeked of incense. The walls were decorated with motivational posters and as Miss Greenwood welcomed me she suddenly switched from calling me Matthew, to calling me White Bear. This seemed just another way of saying Polar Bear but whatever. It was not like there was a point in correcting her.

As we sat down we exchanged pleasantries. After that Miss Greenwood took out a little note book. ‘So tell me: Why did you decide to come here?’ Miss Greenwood had a very high, girly voice. With every syllable she muttered you could hear a slight lisp. ‘I’m here on advice of a friend.’ Miss Greenwood was covered in feathers, jewels and hundreds of thin layers of cotton flower patterns. She wore sandals on her feet and whenever she moved you could just see a tattoo peek out from under her sleeve.

It was weird people like her that made me wonder if you even needed a license to be a teacher. ‘On advice? Is that so?’ It was oddly quiet. I was used to other people constantly speaking, I never really got the chance to speak up. Now a woman was sitting across of me, waiting for me to spill some beans.

When I didn’t she smiled. ‘You are a quiet one aren’t you?’ _Well I wouldn’t say quiet, more like not in a high need to be constantly vocal with thoughts._ Miss Greenwood was looking through some papers as she spoke. ‘I’m reading you file right now. There’s all sorts of information here. Some interesting things about your family situation for example. But you came because something is bothering you. So first I’d like to focus on that.’

I tried not to show how uncomfortable I was. ‘As I said, a friend told me it might be better if I talk about some things with you.’ Miss Greenwood had scary dark eyes, like never ending circles of madness. But that was probably my nervousness talking. She kept staring at me as she said: ‘Are you a very open person White Bear?’ I remembered what Tessa said about Miss Greenwood. I had to be honest with her in order for her to help me. ‘I once was.’ The emphasis on _was_. ‘You talk is past tense, what happened between then and now White Bear?’ Slowly I started picking at my nails.

I didn’t know if Miss Greenwood knew about SAP or not. I would have to be careful. ‘Something did happen yes. Something really big that changed everything. And now I have to lie about it. And I feel like I’m the only who has difficulty coping with it.’ 

‘Your Gifts?’ Slowly her head moved a bit to the left, as if my face became ten times funnier that way. ‘Yes. So you know about SAP?’ Miss Greenwood almost rolled her eyes, but she seemed to keep it back at the last moment. ‘Yes of course I know. I’m the school counsellor. I wouldn’t be able to do my work properly otherwise. But anyways, could you tell me about your powers?’

I shuffled in my seat a bit nervously. If Alfred had been here he would have already proudly showed them off. If Arthur had been sitting on this chair he would have grumbled and suddenly a flower would have appeared in his hand or something. But I wasn’t like them, these powers didn’t make me confident, or strong, and I was _definitely_ not proud. ‘I am able to turn invisible. I’m also extremely strong. But I can’t control these powers. And they make me feel like…’ I wanted her to finish the sentence. But her face stayed stoic and curious.

‘I feel like a freak.’

I didn’t matter how many times Alfred had told me otherwise. These Gift, powers, abilities whatever you want to call them, I didn’t like them. ‘And why do you feel like a freak?’ I took the mug on her table. It broke when I put a bit of pressure on it. ‘Because everything I touch breaks. Because I _hate_ it when people get hurt. And that’s exactly what’s happening here.’ I turned my hand invisible without any struggle.

‘Because I’m already a nobody. And now I can just disappear and nobody would even miss me. I’m replaceable. Alfred has always done fine without me around. There is just no-one who understands. Everyone to a certain degree is happy with their abilities. But I don’t want them anymore. _I just want them gone_.’ It felt weird, to talk so much without getting interrupted. To reveal so much without getting judged. ‘Tell me, do you ever feel lonely?’

‘All the time. But I should be used to it at this point. Self-pity won’t get me anywhere and I know that. I just need to deal with these powers. I need to control them, and then conceal them.’ Miss Greenwood shook her head, causing her dark hair to move with her. ‘This is not self-pity boy. A lot of SAP students go through this. They wonder why they were chosen. They wonder why they can’t just live a normal life. They struggle with keeping the secret and feeling miserable for having to hide. They hate themselves for what they are capable off, and feel depressed because they can never be cured.’

I knew she was trying to show me that I wasn’t alone. And it worked of course. But I also felt something else. Was it sadness? Was it anger? My eyes burned slightly. I tried to hide it. ‘Crying is not a bad thing. Sometimes the only way to channel out the bad is to have a good cry.’ She handed me a tissue box but I declined.

I stared at my appearing and disappearing hands. In July I was still struggling with my visibility. Now it was like clicking on an on-off switch. ‘I feel so worthless. Even with the powers to change things, I feel like I’m stuck. Alfred and I had a fight. And I feel like he’ll never forgive me. And I can’t even trust my friends anymore. Since everyone is now a suspect, or in danger, or both!’

Miss Greenwood demanded I explained the fight with Alfred. ‘It seems like you are not at fault here at all. So why do you need forgiveness from him?’ _Because I’m always the one that apologizes first. Because I’m always the one crawling through the dirt to patch things up again._ ‘I don’t know. I just… that’s how it’s always been.’ Of course Miss Greenwood called this complete nonsense. But she wasn’t me, for me it wasn’t that weird or stupid.

‘Listen, you talk with your brother. Just get off your chest what needs to be said. I think you might underestimate your brother White Bear. He sounds like he really cares for you. If you are honest and open with him, he might just be able to understand what you are going through.’ She nodded at my silhouette which was vaguely appearing and disappearing because of my emotional outburst.

‘You have beautiful and very special Gifts. And you have all the right to condemn them if they cause you to struggle with normal everyday things.’ She showed me a cheeky grin. ‘Maybe you should stop seeing these powers as a curse, and start seeing them more as… for example a nuisance?’ I tried to imagine it, and somehow I could sort of manage that image.

‘I’d like to have some more conversations with you White Bear. Because I want to talk with you about your family situation. I want you to learn to embrace your Gifts too. Because you’ll only be able to have a normal and healthy life if you start seeing them as a part of you. I’ve seen a lot of students going down the wrong path because they just couldn’t bear to accept.’

After some consideration I decided to agree. Before I left she gave me her contact information. ‘If you ever need to cancel an appointment, or feel like talking you call this number.’ I thanked her softly, suddenly feeling embarrassed. I couldn’t remember the last time that I’d been honest about something.

I opened the door but before I left she said: ‘One more thing, I know it might be hard to trust your friends. But the best things you can do is to tell them at least as much truth as you are capable of. Because if they truly are your friends they will be there for you no matter what happens.’ Miss Greenwood her dark eyes had an odd intelligence which scared me.

‘Miss, I’m sorry if this is a rude question. But are you like a participant in the SA-Program?’ I was pretty sure at this point that she had some sort of mind mumbo jumbo power. She let out a surprised laughter. ‘No I’m not. I’m just good at doing my job.’ She gave me a wink, and waved me out…

‘Earth to Matthew. Do you copy?’ Tessa gave me a questioning look. I wondered how long I’d been spacing out. ‘I’m sorry, I guess I’m a bit of an airhead today. What did you say?’ My legs were starting to hurt from the long standing up but I didn’t care. ‘Did your talk with Miss Greenwood go well?’ Tessa’s eyebrows lifted up, making her scar part of the wave lines on her forehead.

‘Yes it went all fine. We have some more appointments in the future. She’s going to help me patch up with Alfred.’ Tessa whistled shortly before giving me thumbs up. ‘I told you she could help. She also helped me out with some stuff lately.’

When I didn’t react she let out a deep sigh. ‘You can be quiet all you want Matt. That’s all I’m gonna share with you. I’m not like some others you might know. I’m not going to tell you my sad backstory, and I will definitely not cry on your shoulder or whatever the fuck you are expecting.’ I raised my hands in defence. ‘You don’t have to get so defensive. I didn’t even say anything. I wasn’t going to anyways.’

That last part sounded a bit too irritated and she picked up on it immediately. ‘Listen, it’s not like I don’t _want_ to share. It’s just that right now, things are really complicated and once I’ve figured everything out you’ll be the first one to know okay?’ We had a stare down, one she won since Tessa somehow manages to be intimidating. I managed to break the silence: ‘I’ll be right back. I need to pick something up that I forgot in my locker.’

It scared me how that lie came to me so easily. I hated lying, I hated liars, yet here I was, constantly making up small excuses for my secrets. Tessa lay down again, she closed her eyes and simply said: ‘Take your time, I’ll be here.’ She started humming a song in Dutch. But I didn’t recognize it, nor did I currently have the courage to ask about it.

Besides I had to hurry up. Any moment and I would turn invisible. It’s kinda like having a sleepy foot. Slowly you feel your foot getting heavier and heavier. And when you poke it you feel a tingly sensation getting stronger and stronger. At the same time you start having struggles moving your feet properly, and then you know you’ve fucked up. Well my invisibility had a new nasty prank it liked to pull.

I would start feeling odd, my entire body would start tensing up oddly. And before I know it I go POOF! And I disappear into thin air. Luckily I’d started recognizing the warning signals. So when I lied about leaving something in my locker it was necessary. Because I don’t think Tessa would’ve appreciated it if I suddenly disappeared on her.

I started hanging out at the gate of the garden. _Come on stupid. Change back already!_ Usually the invisibility was temporarily and it would only last a minute or so. But as I looked at my watch I realised I’d been four minutes already. And still no visible limbs yet. I got startled to dead when someone suddenly walked past me. I quickly took a step back and at the very last moment I managed not to give myself away by apologizing.

The boy who walked past me was a familiar face. _What is Antonio doing here?_ The Spaniard looked better than the last time I’d seen him. He wore a t-shirt despite the nasty cold wind, and he was humming to himself. His smile always plastered on his face. And he was swinging his school bag around unconsciously. Before I could even consider my own actions I started following him.

I remembered Alfred’s cautious face when I told him that Tessa and Antonio were innocent. His stern blue eyes as he’d said how dangerous they might be. _Now is my time to prove him wrong_.

As I followed him I made sure to hide behind trees, and I tried to minimize my breath intake. Antonio didn’t look like he was going into a particular direction at first. He was just strolling around. That was until he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. At first I was convinced he’d seen or heard me. But then his pace suddenly quickened as he suddenly took a familiar path.

_I know this path. It goes towards the lake_. The thought hadn’t left me or I saw Tessa lying in the grass amusing herself with some game on her phone. I wondered if she would mistake Antonio for me. But we weren’t even near her or she spoke up: ‘Antonio.’

Her voice was flat, slightly annoyed. The way she usually greeted him. Antonio didn’t move anymore, he looked like he was trying to make a decision. _Go talk with Tessa or leave her be?_ I hoped he would just greet her and then continue on his way. Because then I could go back to Alfred and laugh in his face for how wrong he was.

That wasn’t in the stars tough. ‘Tessa.’ He’d always pronounced her name in a very Spanish way. There we stood. The three of us. Tessa on her back at the lake, Antonio and I on the path, and all of us awkward and quiet. ‘So are you just going to stand there all day? Or are we going to have this conversation?’ Tessa was sitting up now, her brownish eyes almost seemed… amused.

I’d only seen her amused a few times. So it was rather confusing. Antonio pulled at the collar of his t-shirt as if he was in need of some fresh air. ‘Well you know, I was just out to get some sunlight and all, when suddenly I…’ he vaguely pointed at her as if it explained all. Apparently, and to my confusion it did. Since Tessa simply nodded in understanding. ‘I thought I was a stiff, annoying naïve girl who didn’t care a fuck about anyone?’

Everything about her screamed offended. She and Antonio obviously had been having a fight of some sorts. Antonio’s smile faded, but his eyes became amused. ‘Well you called me a selfish brat with an ego the size of Asia so do you blame me for getting angry?’ Antonio made his way towards Tessa, for a second it looked like he was thinking about whether he was going to sit down or not. In the end he sat down anyways.

‘No I don’t blame you for that. I do blame you for bringing fire to every fight we have had up until now.’ Antonio got out his lighter. ‘Well you broke it so that won’t be happening again.’ Slowly I took a few steps on the grass, and I quickly checked my body in the meantime. _Still invisible, thank goodness._ ‘I wasn’t talking about your lighter, or you know the other thing. I was talking more about the fact that when you get angry you start ranting in Spanish.’ I couldn’t really imagine myself an angry Antonio.

Sure a grumpy Antonio, and annoyed Antonio, these were all existing parts of him. (Usually drawn out by Tessa and homework.) But Antonio legitimately getting angry? The two of them shared a knowing look. There was an obvious inside joke I was missing here. ‘I’m sorry about your hand by the way.’ Antonio reached out to look at Tessa’s left hand, but she pulled it back. ‘Remember no touching. This is a nice lake, it would be a shame if-’

She was fiddling with her hands. Antonio opened his bag and showed her a pair of gloves. ‘Now can I?’ He was already pulling them on but Tessa still made some sounds of protest. ‘Seriously gloves? How can you be sure that will stop it from happening?’ Antonio ignored her protest and slowly reached for her hand. Once he was holding it they both looked extremely tense. Like they were waiting for something to happen.

Behind me a duck started making his way towards the water. Nothing happened. ‘You see, all good. Nothing happened.’ Antonio suddenly looked very alive, like he’d just heard the best news in history. The same went from Tessa, she looked extremely pleased, but her words were carefully chosen. ‘Great, now get it over with.’

He slowly turned to look at the palm of her left hand, and to my shock it was red and slightly swollen. ‘Only a first degree burn. Although it is quite close to a second degree.’ Antonio’s face was guilt written. ‘I’m so sorry. You were right all along about this.’ I as audience was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable. My conscious was getting angry at me for spying and prying in other people’s business.

Tessa smiled, it wasn’t a kind smile, or an open one. It was forcibly, as if to show good faith. ‘I’ve made it difficult on you too. That aside, some things have started with me too. You aren’t the only one dealing with new problems.’ The way they spoke in riddles, gave each other knowing glances. It all reminded me of Alfred and me that first few days in July. _Maybe they have Gifts._ The idea formed in my brain, and although I tried to deny it I wasn’t able to. _I have to entertain the possibility._ Antonio had put of his gloves again. He and Tessa were both looking at the lake.

‘So will you show me?’ Antonio sounded hopeful, he gave her shoulder a playful push. Tessa seemed to think about it for a second or so. ‘Oh sure, I mean what could possibly go wrong?’ _Sarcasm._ Antonio opened his mouth, ready to say something. But in the end he just turned away from her. They didn’t say a thing. That was until Tessa let out an annoyed sigh. ‘I need a smoke. Do you have some?’ Antonio ignored her question, he looked slightly depressed. ‘Toni?’ He perked up at the nickname. ‘No I only have one left, and that one’s for me.’ Tessa turned around to look at me. Or actually _through_ me. ‘Matthew should be getting back any moment now. He forgot something in his locker.’

Antonio leaned in, curiously as always. ‘Matthew? Does he know?’ In the silence of the moment I was afraid to breathe. Tessa face slowly changed from stoic to deeply frustrated. ‘Of course he doesn’t. Antonio we’ve talked about this before. We’re not even supposed to be talking right now. I told you to stay away. Do you think this is easy for me? To keep secrets for one of my only friends?’

Antonio obviously hadn’t suspected this. ‘I know Tess. Do you think it’s easy for me tough? I also have people that I care about. Friends that I need to distance myself from. Sometimes Francis gives me this weird looks. Like… like he can look right through me you know? Or Gilbert-’ He shook his head. ‘Gilbert is constantly watching everybody nowadays too. It’s stressful. And not easy, and you are right by the way. We should not be talking right now.’

The accusing look he gave her wasn’t pleasant. ‘It’s not like I came to you because I like hanging with you so much. I came because nowadays I feel like a drug addict.’ He showed her his shaking hands. I immediately recognized the gesture, Tessa’s hands were doing the same thing. Tessa let out a groan in frustration. ‘It’s like you’re always trying to start a fight with me. Why can’t you just go? Matthew will be back soon, can your funny little brain not comprehend that?’

Antonio stood up. ‘Not to be a dick or anything. But is he your boyfriend? Because I’m pretty sure he isn’t the jealous type…’ Antonio was only halfway through his sentence but Tessa was laughing her ass off. ‘Ha! Sorry I’m not trying to be rude. But boyfriend?’ She shook her head, if it wasn’t for my stealth I would’ve been joining her in her laugh fit. ‘Jesus nowadays a boy and a girl can’t even talk anymore without people thinking they have a relationship.’ She reached into her pocket to get her lighter.

‘I’m not worried about Matthew because he’s my friend. I’m worried about him finding things out. I’m worried about putting a weight on his shoulders that he doesn’t deserve. So I’m trying to stay as normal as possible.’ She checked if her lighter worked. ‘And "normal-Tessa" doesn’t chat around with you.’ Antonio almost seemed relieved at that statement. ‘Sorry for asking, I was just curious.’ Tessa’s stern face wasn’t that stern anymore. Her eyes were asking questions like: _Why do you care?_

But she didn’t speak the questions out loud. She never bothers to voice her questions. Antonio picked up his bag. ‘Well I guess if you put it that way I ought to get going. Matthew is a great guy and all. But he always looks at me with these weird looks. Maybe I’ve got something on my face.’ Tessa nodded, her face serious. ‘Uhuh, you do have something weird on your face, I guess your ugly haircut distracts him.’ Antonio went through his hair, partly embarrassed. ‘It’s getting too long huh?’

Tessa checked her watch, she look through me again. ‘Man you have no idea, you almost look like your brother now. It’s scary.’ She threw the lighter at him and in reflex he caught it. ‘Use my lighter. Since you’re too poor to get a decent haircut you can always burn it shorter.’ Antonio rolled his eyes as he put the lighter in his pocket. Tessa spoke in a casual voice. ‘Besides, I can buy as many cigarettes as I want to. But without a lighter they are useless.’ She was fumbling with her hands again, her face slightly red from what I assumed was the cold. They didn’t say another word, Antonio left in a hurry and didn’t look back.

Soon after I appeared again. ‘Hey Tessa I got my stuff.’ I held up my bag. Tessa almost jumped in surprise when she heard me. ‘Jesus Matthew! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?’ Tessa was acting like nothing had ever happened. ‘Sorry. I saw you talk with Antonio so I thought I’d give you guys some privacy.’ I didn´t know if mentioning him was good or not. But it felt like the right thing to do.

_I’m worried about putting a weight on his shoulders that he doesn’t deserve_. Tessa’s eyes darkened at the mention of his name. ‘You saw him huh?’ I tried to be as casual as possible as I took out my phone. Alfred had sent me a text. In the mess which was my thought process I wondered if I should finally reply. ‘Yeah, I know I should mind my own business, but you two seem to have _something_ going on. So I thought I’d give you some time to talk.’

Alfred had been texting me for a few days now, but I’d ignored him so far. I could feel Tessa staring at me, but I pretended like I didn’t notice. Instead I decided to read Alfred’s messages.

**Alfred:** Dude where are you? _11:35_

**Matthew:** I’m with Tessa. You want to talk? _12:12_

**Alfred:** Thank god you’re finally replying. _12:13_

**Matthew:** We need to talk about Tessa  & Antonio. _12:13_

**Alfred:** Fine. I’m with Ludwig, Gil and some others right now. _12:20_

It’s was first time in a long time that we talked. I was surprised that he didn’t give me an angry text rant. He’d been spamming me for days. Apologizing in no less than _three_ different languages. Those being: French, English and one Spanish meme picture of a pineapple which apparently was sent to the wrong person. (He still said it counted as a form of apology).

If he was training with Ludwig and Gilbert it meant he was at their usual training place. Tessa had gone back to staring at the lake with shaking hands. _It’s not like I came to you because I like hanging with you so much. I came because nowadays I feel like a drug addict._ ‘Tessa?’ She seemed deep in thought. ‘I need to go now. I’m sorry, but it’s important. Alfred wants to resolve our fight. Do you mind?’

Tessa had not really voiced any opinion on what she’d seen happening between me and Alfred. But I could read the distain she felt for him in her eyes. She could be very protective of her friends. ‘Sure you go ahead. But make sure he kisses your feet. Because otherwise he’ll answer to me.’ Tessa’s voice stayed surprisingly emotionless.

But hey, her eyes _did_ say murder. I patted her on the back, ‘thanks I appreciate it. But that won’t be necessary.’ I picked up my bag from the ground. I didn’t want to make things awkward by saying strange things. But on the other hand, better safe than sorry right?

‘Hey Tessa?’ Tessa didn’t seem cold despite wearing the girl’s summer uniform. ‘If you notice anything strange happening, could you tell me?’ My Dutch friend raised an eyebrow, something she might have been doing a bit too much. ‘Like what?’ She had me there. I’d never seen an Outsider. None of us had. Arthur was the only one on our team who could actually see them. And his descriptions had been odd and vague. ‘Don’t know. Just… something weird. Never mind.’

I wanted to walk away. But my conscious was telling me to just do one other thing. ‘Oh and Tessa?’ She looked up. Her hair messy because of the wind, her scary facial expression not faltering. ‘If you ever need to talk about anything, you know you can always talk to me right?’ Tessa simply nodded. She answered slowly, carefully minding her words. ‘Yes, I’m aware.’

_I’m worried about putting a weight on his shoulders that he doesn’t deserve_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AND THAT'S IT FOR THIS CHAPTER. Chapter 18 is already in the making, and like to all people who are still paciently waiting for updates: Bless you.  
> So you all have a wonderful weekend, and if you have any questions, want to give advise and or just wanna talk then you know were to find me. The people around me think I'm tolerable, so that's a good thing!
> 
> ~ Suus-Arido


End file.
